Occupational therapy for handwriting issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did OT with our son for handwriting issues, but he was much older, and it wasn't as effective. It helped, but I wish, wish, wish we'd done it when he was younger. He still does not write cursive, and probably never will. OT was a lot of finger strengthening exercises, most of which were fun for him. Get your son evaluated, and do get private OT. School OT can be fine, but it's hit or miss. Our son saw the private OT once a month, and it was covered by insurance. Very helpful overall, but again, we waited too long. Getting your child on the right track in K is the best time to do it. Glad you have perceptive teachers.

Same here, exactly.

Susan Tieche of OTS in Kensington MD is great.

We are in the same situation. DD has been going to OT since age 3.5. She's almost 7 and still can't print well. The OT started teaching her cursive and it is much better. She has spatial issues so she has a hard time putting the letters on the paper.

[Anonymous]

OP here with a quick update: the evaluation determined that my DS has issues with finger control related to his strength and overall grip. He is going to be meeting with a private OT that comes to the school once a week to start for 30 mins. He has had a few sessions already and we have seen some improvement already. Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement.

[Anonymous]

I know Little Scholars is great for OT...they work with kids in Preschool-5th grade. I've heard really good things about their teachers. Other parents comments are here http://littlescholarsllc.com/testimonials.html Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Second Cheryl Bregman in Rockville. She is fantastic (so is her partner Kristi Komei). My son LOVED going to OT and we saw wonderful improvement in his fine motor skills. They also worked with his coordination and upper body strength when they noticed some problems and recommended other programs that helped him with his issues.

[Anonymous]

If you can afford the time and effort, do OT for handwriting. If you find a good therapist there is only benefit and no harm (besides costs and time), but it's not worth missing class for. However, keep in mind that if your school places great emphasis on actual handwriting exercises in Kindergarten you should also intervene on that. There is no proof that constantly writing letters at that age do anything to advance handwriting, writing, or reading. There are many other passive and active ways to practice letter and word recognition, which is ultimately what we care about. You should see them tell stories and draw stories, possibly even in three parts, not spell out letters all the time. You should also check into what they're using and see that big grip pencils and crayons are available.
In the larger scheme of things, I also find it not right that your son is recommended for OT because he breaks out into tears over handwriting exercises that are futile at this age for any length of time. Indeed, he may not even despair over the writing but over the sheer sitting at your desk part of this.
No sample here, but I'm the mother of a 4th grader who had a terrible time writing for any length of time until 4th grade, but reads and tells stories at a very advanced level. He is now crafting stories, even copying them multiple times to get it right and neat. There is a balance in everything but by en large a friend of mine who once declared, you can't pull grass to make it grow, is right on point when it comes to handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Our son is in OT in our FCPS for fine motor issues. Our kindergarten sends home a journal for the kids to write in. We have our son pick a topic that interests him, draw a picture then write one or two sentences. At first he didn't enjoy it, but because he got to pick the topic, he gradually has been getting into it. His drawing and handwriting still leave a lot to be desired, but just the fact that he's getting practice most days has made this more of a "familiar" task for him, and he enjoys that he gets to select topics that are meaningful to him.

I also try to make it fun by putting him on my lap for the journal roller coaster (I hug him and move him side to side, etc.), and give him a smooch for each picture or word he writes. The teachers also make a big fuss over each journal entry, and he gets a little sticker on each one

Note: We don't correct spelling at this point - we want him to feel confident about putting pencil to paper and not get hung up on whether his writing/drawing is "correct."

To practice correctly forming letters, you could use a blank sheet of lined paper (we use http://shopping.hwtears.com/product/W100/HWT), have him choose a short word (such as "cat") then have him practice the letters in that word. For our DS, this is more meaningful than doing pre-printed work sheets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Second Cheryl Bregman in Rockville.

I like Cheryl too, but for handwriting I would go to an OT who follows HWOT. She has her own method which did more harm than good with my DC's handwriting.

[Anonymous]

P.P. You mean Cheryl's HW program did more harm? What exactly is HWOT?
TIA

[Anonymous]

I will also throw in that you should not wait. We sort off held of on OT for handwriting as there were other issues. We hoped the handwriting would resolve or keyboarding would take care of it. Though there was some OT at school, we started private in 5th grade but by then the habits were already so engrained that it didn't really help. I wish we had done it earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:P.P. You mean Cheryl's HW program did more harm? What exactly is HWOT?
TIA

Not the PP but HWOT = Handwriting Without Tears. I have two kids with motor challenges and low muscle tone. Our OTs have used it as does the school. DH and I also attended one of the HWOT workshops and got the materials practice at home. It's a good program, developmentally based and used by a lot of programs.

[Anonymous]

I did this in the 70s. They told my mother that I was "mildly retarded" because I was left handed and should go to OT to learn to write with my right hand.

I wonder what they are telling kids now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:P.P. You mean Cheryl's HW program did more harm? What exactly is HWOT?TIA

PP here. Yes, more harm. Handwriting became more illegible so we switched to OT who did HWOT (Handwriting Without Tears). Handwriting is still a struggle but more readable.

[Anonymous]

We started OT the summer after my son was in kindergarten and then stopped because we didn't feel like we understood what the therapist was doing -- it was expensive, we didn't get a lot of feedback... Plus, our son was starting a new school and the only way to continue was to have him miss school to get to the therapy. We tried handwriting without tears, martial arts and swimming to help build mind-body connections and build his strength, but his teacher is again strongly recommending we seek OT before moves on to third grade. Does anyone have particular recommendations for a therapist who is both skilled and RESPONSIVE (so the this process is holistic and complemented in our home life)? We're in NW DC. thank you!

[Anonymous]

any recs for Silver Spring?

[Anonymous]

I really don't like the push to have K kids write. I'm not sure they are all physically ready. However, that said, I would work on fine motor skills without the pencil for a while. I taught K.