Handwriting (for a child with certain motor delays)

[Hwin]

My son is almost 5, has an Asperger's dx, and LOVES to write and draw. But he likes to use a long skinny pencil or marker and has poor posture (very slumpy/leany). I know his grip isn't quite right. Honestly, having a book that says "you must hold your pencil in this manner" accompanied by an illustration will go a lot farther than me, the mom, saying, "put your fingers around it this way."

 

I am asking specifically about handwriting programs. There is one in the Rainbow Resource catalog that looks great by the description but I wanted to get feedback from other moms who've been in this boat :)

 

Well, that and I had wanted to ask his occupational therapist but... we were supposed to be starting OT in January, then February, and now it is halfway through March.

 

Edited to add... I have a firm start date for Occupational Therapy. Praise God!

Edited March 16, 2011 by Hwin

[Dobela]

Handwriting without Tears. I would start with the earlier books and even buy the CD with songs. The songs teach the same thing, but in a fun rhythmic way.

[rafiki]

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[Dobela]

I don't know why you are waiting on OT, but I came back to suggest that maybe a physical therapy eval might be in order as well. It sounds like your child has poor core muscle strength or low muscle tone. That would be why there is slumping and such. You can google all sorts of exercises for this that you can do at home with him in the meantime. Some of the moves my dd's PT and OT want me to do at home with her remind me very much of old aerobics videos I used to do.

 

I would also search for hand strengthening exercises. Maybe another post here asking specifically for help since there is loads of experience here. I just can't remember all that my son's OT did with him. I know he had to use only his finger tips to pull small beads and small objects out of playdoh but there were other things as well. Your ds may be chosing those particular writing instruments because of ease in grip or balance.

 

Hope this helps give you some more direction.

[Hwin]

Thanks for both of the suggestions, I'm going to look at them carefully and would love more ideas, too :) (I did try HWOT pre-K but it was a half hearted effort, as I wanted a program that included lower case letters.)

 

I don't know why you are waiting on OT, but I came back to suggest that maybe a physical therapy eval might be in order as well. It sounds like your child has poor core muscle strength or low muscle tone. That would be why there is slumping and such. You can google all sorts of exercises for this that you can do at home with him in the meantime. Some of the moves my dd's PT and OT want me to do at home with her remind me very much of old aerobics videos I used to do.

 

To the bolded - I believe this is the case, and I requested a PT eval on 1/24. I do not know what kind of time frame to expect for the eval to be complete and PT to begin *sigh* While I've got plenty of experience with speech and am getting more comfortable with fine motor, I am out of my comfort zone with regard to core/muscle tone issue (if that's what it is... I think it is.) So I appreciate your insight and I may venture into DIY physical therapy... so far we just make him stand up straight and send him to swim lessons :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm not sure why we are waiting on OT either, although I was told point blank that "our school just lost a million dollars in funding so your son is on the back burner." (and I understand that but he's been on the back burner for months now.)

[merry gardens]

My son is almost 5, has an Asperger's dx, and LOVES to write and draw. But he likes to use a long skinny pencil or marker and has poor posture (very slumpy/leany). I know his grip isn't quite right. Honestly, having a book that says "you must hold your pencil in this manner" accompanied by an illustration will go a lot farther than me, the mom, saying, "put your fingers around it this way."

 

I am asking specifically about handwriting programs. There is one in the Rainbow Resource catalog that looks great by the description but I wanted to get feedback from other moms who've been in this boat :)

 

Well, that and I had wanted to ask his occupational therapist but... we were supposed to be starting OT in January, then February, and now it is halfway through March.

I really like Callirobics. It's set to music, and it's fun. Callirobics has a program for younger children learning the alphabet that might be worth checking out. https://secure.nexet.net/callirobics/ecommerce/ (We use the one for older children that works on the formation of strokes rather than actual letters.)

 

At your OT appointment it might be worth asking the ot to explore various pen and pencil grips with your child. We've never had OT, but I ordered a bunch of pencil grips that I saw recommended on an ot website and found what we liked best. http://www.therapro.com/Handwriting-Grips-and-Tools-C4245.aspx There's a plastic grip called "The Claw" that works wonders to help my five year old with the proper hold for writing. http://www.therapro.com/Writing-Claw-Grip-P321651C4297.aspx

 

There are also different writing tools that help develop the proper hold. My five year old really enjoys rock crayons. http://www.therapro.com/Crayon-Rocks-P322074C4431.aspx

[Dobela]

Thanks for both of the suggestions, I'm going to look at them carefully and would love more ideas, too :) (I did try HWOT pre-K but it was a half hearted effort, as I wanted a program that included lower case letters.)

 

 

 

To the bolded - I believe this is the case, and I requested a PT eval on 1/24. I do not know what kind of time frame to expect for the eval to be complete and PT to begin *sigh* While I've got plenty of experience with speech and am getting more comfortable with fine motor, I am out of my comfort zone with regard to core/muscle tone issue (if that's what it is... I think it is.) So I appreciate your insight and I may venture into DIY physical therapy... so far we just make him stand up straight and send him to swim lessons :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm not sure why we are waiting on OT either, although I was told point blank that "our school just lost a million dollars in funding so your son is on the back burner." (and I understand that but he's been on the back burner for months now.)

To the bolded part - I would suggest that you look into private therapy. My school district laughed when I asked for help with OT (different state). If you just don't want private, then I would find an advocate to help facilitate this. Or become a very squeaky wheel. If you have asked the school to follow laws, they can legally drag part of it out for many months - many days to reply, 60 days to test, 30 more days to share results... I went to our pediatrician and we had referrals that day with evals done in less than 2 weeks and therapy beginning a week later. Our insurance didn't pay at first so I did apply for state funded insurance later to cover the costs.

[PeterPan]

Hwin, indeed, the slumpy body you're talking about is a huge indicator of low muscle tone (tone, not the same as strength), and low tone doesn't go away. Not only does it not go away, but 1 hour of OT a week doesn't fix it. It's *you* who are going to have to do the work with him. The OT only shows you how. And because of this, it means it's something you can start on now, without the OT. Like the others, I would strongly urge you to consider finding a private OT. Find someone who treats a lot of SPD and would be willing to work with you once a month on a homework model. That means you'd just be paying $100 a month for that one session, and you're insurance might even help with that. $100 is much less daunting than $400 (4 sessions).

 

Next, have you looked into horse riding? There's even a thing called hippotherapy which is horse riding therapeutically. It's AMAZING for this, absolutely positively amazing, can't recommend it enough. When they groom the horse, lift the saddle, do the buckles, etc., they are working their arms, wrists, and hands. When they ride it's working on their legs and core. My dd went from a floppy core and being unable to do sit-ups to doing tons of them over the course of last summer, just from riding twice a week. Highly, highly recommend. Oh, and the social is very good for them. Horses connect to the kids.

 

Now, as far as things you can do at home, you can start with a few books like "The Out of Sync Child has Fun" and "Fine Motor Skills Development" by TCR. And if you get a private OT, you want a homework model where they give you a list of 30 minutes to an hour of homework a day. Search the boards for Yllek's posts on the regimen her OT created for her ds of similar age. This isn't rocket science, and you can start doing this stuff NOW. No need to wait.

 

Finally, you need vestibular input. Our OT had dd on a single line swing while wearing a weighted collar, every single week. If you can't set one up outside or in your basement, then try the park. Parks are actually surprisingly developmentally appropriate, with lots of things to WORK the areas an OT does. Take advantage of it! Oh, I made us a weighted collar. I just drew a collar pattern, cut two, and serged around, sewing in channels, then filled with beans. I think it has around 3 lbs. of beans. Our OT said without vestibular input, the tone work you do won't stick. And they're always going to be prone to going back. The vestibular input creates the neurological foundation.

 

We learned a ton from our OT, but ultimately it's what you do with him, day to day, that's going to help him over the hump. Honestly, in our experience, therapy is as important (or sometimes even more important than) curriculum. A good handwriting curriculum can't overcome low tone and low hand strength. There are little things you're not seeing that the OT will catch. For instance dd, because she was low tone and off with her vestibular, was not "weight shifting" properly. The hand you put forward to hold the paper when writing is actually supposed to bear the weight not borne by your trunk. Well she wasn't neurologically weight-shifting like that, and it all dumped onto the hand she was writing with. Curriculum changes wouldn't have helped that. We did an exercise for weight-shifting and started paying attention to it. It's a process.

[lulubelle]

I am always looking for new things to help my son with his handwriting issues! It is coming along slow and steady. I checked out the Promethean website and it looks great for him!!! It is just what he needs. Thanks one1Michele for the link! This would be great before starting copywork for WWE.

[Hwin]

Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time to respond. My son has been in special ed classroom for 2 years, sees a developmental pediatrician, sees a regular pediatrician, therapsists, etc, and no one ever thought there was a low tone issue :glare: The floppiness just didn't seem to firm up :( (And, he did meet physical developmental milestones on time, although he wasn't sitting until 8 mos.)

 

Hwin, indeed, the slumpy body you're talking about is a huge indicator of low muscle tone (tone, not the same as strength), and low tone doesn't go away. Not only does it not go away, but 1 hour of OT a week doesn't fix it. It's *you* who are going to have to do the work with him. The OT only shows you how. And because of this, it means it's something you can start on now, without the OT. Like the others, I would strongly urge you to consider finding a private OT. Find someone who treats a lot of SPD and would be willing to work with you once a month on a homework model. That means you'd just be paying $100 a month for that one session, and you're insurance might even help with that. $100 is much less daunting than $400 (4 sessions).

 

I've tried but the school district keeps reassuring me we're starting up "next week" and... I keep believing them. But I will email the organizer of our autism group tonight and get some private recommendations.

 

Next, have you looked into horse riding? There's even a thing called hippotherapy which is horse riding therapeutically. It's AMAZING for this, absolutely positively amazing, can't recommend it enough. When they groom the horse, lift the saddle, do the buckles, etc., they are working their arms, wrists, and hands. When they ride it's working on their legs and core. My dd went from a floppy core and being unable to do sit-ups to doing tons of them over the course of last summer, just from riding twice a week. Highly, highly recommend. Oh, and the social is very good for them. Horses connect to the kids.

 

That would be great. He already likes to ride people.

 

(joking... sort of)

 

Now, as far as things you can do at home, you can start with a few books like "The Out of Sync Child has Fun" and "Fine Motor Skills Development" by TCR. And if you get a private OT, you want a homework model where they give you a list of 30 minutes to an hour of homework a day. Search the boards for Yllek's posts on the regimen her OT created for her ds of similar age. This isn't rocket science, and you can start doing this stuff NOW. No need to wait.

 

Thanks, yes, a list and homework is what I need - well, that and having someone in front of me showing me what to do. I'll look up those posts and check out the books.

 

Finally, you need vestibular input. Our OT had dd on a single line swing while wearing a weighted collar, every single week. If you can't set one up outside or in your basement, then try the park. Parks are actually surprisingly developmentally appropriate, with lots of things to WORK the areas an OT does. Take advantage of it! Oh, I made us a weighted collar. I just drew a collar pattern, cut two, and serged around, sewing in channels, then filled with beans. I think it has around 3 lbs. of beans. Our OT said without vestibular input, the tone work you do won't stick. And they're always going to be prone to going back. The vestibular input creates the neurological foundation.

 

I am having some trouble visualizing this but I'll do a little googling!

 

We learned a ton from our OT, but ultimately it's what you do with him, day to day, that's going to help him over the hump. Honestly, in our experience, therapy is as important (or sometimes even more important than) curriculum. A good handwriting curriculum can't overcome low tone and low hand strength. There are little things you're not seeing that the OT will catch. For instance dd, because she was low tone and off with her vestibular, was not "weight shifting" properly. The hand you put forward to hold the paper when writing is actually supposed to bear the weight not borne by your trunk. Well she wasn't neurologically weight-shifting like that, and it all dumped onto the hand she was writing with. Curriculum changes wouldn't have helped that. We did an exercise for weight-shifting and started paying attention to it. It's a process.

 

We learned that with speech therapy and that's why I have been so anxious to establish OT.

 

Thank you for your post. It helped me take the bigger picture more seriously.

[NittanyJen]

For my XXY son, (dysgraphia, low tone, including former core issues that are now doing really well as long as we stay on top of them, bilateral coordination issues, motor planning, etc), two things have been very helpful:

 

1) Getting rid of the standard chair when possible. When in the St. Paul schools, a wonderful therapist there replaced his classroom chair with a physioball set into a stand (to prevent it from rolling all over the floor). Those run about $100 though-- for a less expensive home option, I turn his hippity-hop on its side, and make a little ring out of a heavy blanket. His feet can sit on the floor, and he uses a TV tray as a desk. He's tall, so it's the correct writing height. He is far more comfortable, because the ball is the right height for his feet to reach the floor instead of dangling from a kitchen chair; he's working his core muscles to sit up properly, and he can bounce a little, which relieves stress and lets him "wiggle" without getting distracted. In both school and at home, this has increased his work completion dramatically. Sitting on the couch is great for snuggling and reading; not such great posture for writing, so sitting on the ball is a great solution for us.

 

2) Handwriting Without Tears has been fantastic for him. We moved into cursive before even finishing the printing book, before he finished first grade. With his dysgraphia, he never did master making the printed letters, and his letter reversals were dramatic. In cursive writing, making your letters facing the correct direction is much easier (as my 7YO, now 2nd grader, says, "they won't connect up right unless you do them the right way." Their style of writing is a little funky with certain letters, but very straightforward and no fluorishes-- very simple and consistent for a dysgraphic child to learn, as it minimizes the strokes to learn (half the letters start with a "magic c" or else have a "big fat belly" added to them, or "up up and bump! and down down!). We practice printing just during spelling time, and are learning typing for use during longer writing later on-- his issues involve a disconnect that starts up when he has to concentrate on organizing sentences in his head AND writing at the same time, so typing will be a more practical solution to allow him independence while writing. (If he needs to take a test that involves an essay at some point in his life, I would prefer he use a keyboard as an accommodation rather than a transcriptionist, so he doesn't feel he had someone helping him).

 

3) PT costs have been minimized by having the therapist teach us a program and then we work it at home, come back and check in for an update a few weeks later. The success of that may vary with your son's cooperation, your comfort with kinesiology and exercise principles (I'm able to adapt certain things as I go) and willingness to stick to a schedule (a "we'll do it if it fits in our schedule" approach does not work well with PT). Now after 2 1/2 years, his core needs little PT as long as we do normal play, gymnastics, and swimming.

[Hwin]

Thank you for all of your responses - some of the programs look great for him and I am going to print out info so I can talk with the OT - because I finally have a start date of this Monday! :D

 

Forming the letters really isn't a problem - he never reversed letters and knows how to form them, and numbers he is especially good at because I remember all those rhymes from kindergarten (across the sky and down from Heaven, that's the way to make a seven! :lol: ) I guess it really is just grasp and posture. I would like to try the ball/chair idea.