It diagnosis motor planning issues/fine motor issues

[Anonymous]

I am reeling a bit from this morning ot evaluation. My three year old son has motor planning issues and fine motor delays. I feel sad and scared. I've seen on here people saying ot did not help. Any outcome stories for issues like this?

[Anonymous]

We're finding OT helpful. It takes time and progress is very incremental, but it's helping. The key is that the therapy has to continue at home. We've pretty much turned our home into an OT clinic. We work every day on his issues and constantly get ideas from our OT on projects we can do to reinforce the sessions at home. It can't just be a once-a-week thing.

[Anonymous]

Occupational therapists should not diagnose and this is not a diagnosis anyway. It's an assessment of your child's state of functioning and skill level.

If you are concerned independently that your child has issues with motor development, you might consult a motor specialist like Alec Hoon at Kennedy-Krieger.

[Anonymous]

We also find OT to be incredibly helpful. My son also has significant motor planning and fine motor delay. While we stil are working on these issueshe can now grasp his pencil correctly and puts more pressure on the pencil to write.

OT has helped him develop muscle strength and coordination to do these tasks. Do not ignore the eval results. Get started on getting your child help. And as the PP stated, OT activities can also happen in your home. We always get great suggestions from our OT on how to further our son's development at home.

It doesn't sound like you got a diagnosis, just their judgement on your child's needs. You need to go to a developmental pediatrcian to get a diagnosis to understand WHY your child may have these difficulties if you haven't gone already.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Occupational therapists should not diagnose and this is not a diagnosis anyway. It's an assessment of your child's state of functioning and skill level.

If you are concerned independently that your child has issues with motor development, you might consult a motor specialist like Alec Hoon at Kennedy-Krieger.

He's a CP specialist.

OP, my kid has Developmental Coordination Disorder. OT has help a lot with both fine and gross motor. We've been doing it since my kid was a toddler, and at this point I don't see an end in sight. Progress is slow but steady.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Occupational therapists should not diagnose and this is not a diagnosis anyway. It's an assessment of your child's state of functioning and skill level.

If you are concerned independently that your child has issues with motor development, you might consult a motor specialist like Alec Hoon at Kennedy-Krieger.

He's a CP specialist.

OP, my kid has Developmental Coordination Disorder. OT has help a lot with both fine and gross motor. We've been doing it since my kid was a toddler, and at this point I don't see an end in sight. Progress is slow but steady.

Thanks! How old is he now? What do you think it will impact in terms of college, etc.?

[Anonymous]

OP,

One step at a time. There are lots of factors that go into college readiness. Motor coordination will have no bearing on that issue what-so-ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also find OT to be incredibly helpful. My son also has significant motor planning and fine motor delay. While we stil are working on these issueshe can now grasp his pencil correctly and puts more pressure on the pencil to write.

OT has helped him develop muscle strength and coordination to do these tasks. Do not ignore the eval results. Get started on getting your child help. And as the PP stated, OT activities can also happen in your home. We always get great suggestions from our OT on how to further our son's development at home.

It doesn't sound like you got a diagnosis, just their judgement on your child's needs. You need to go to a developmental pediatrcian to get a diagnosis to understand WHY your child may have these difficulties if you haven't gone already.

Good luck!

+1

[Anonymous]

OT was enormously helpful for my son. He has global apraxia (motor planning issues) and a fine motor delay. He began OT at 2. He couldn't walk without frequently falling, jump, follow the most basic instructions in a toddler gym class, etc. At age 7, we are almost done with OT and nobody knows my son ever struggled to do such basic things. It was a lot of work but the OT paid off. There are never guarantees because every child is unique but the odds are in your favor!

[Anonymous]

I think the posters saying OT does not work are those with sensory seeking SPD kids--it seems like people have very mixed results with OT for that particular issue. I haven't seen anyone say OT didn't work for motor issues.

[Anonymous]

Op here -- we have a meeting with a dev ped coming up. My son was 6 weeks premature. If I had to guess I would say motor apraxia and fine motor skills issues. He's very social, pretend play, empathetic, sensitive, loving, and has lots of joint attention so right now I'm not thinking asd, but who knows. The waiting is hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here -- we have a meeting with a dev ped coming up. My son was 6 weeks premature. If I had to guess I would say motor apraxia and fine motor skills issues. He's very social, pretend play, empathetic, sensitive, loving, and has lots of joint attention so right now I'm not thinking asd, but who knows. The waiting is hard.

Not every delay is autism. Our developmental pediatric appointment was very helpful b/c we understood what the issues were and how to go about treating them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here -- we have a meeting with a dev ped coming up. My son was 6 weeks premature. If I had to guess I would say motor apraxia and fine motor skills issues. He's very social, pretend play, empathetic, sensitive, loving, and has lots of joint attention so right now I'm not thinking asd, but who knows. The waiting is hard.

Sounds very familiar. My DC was just under 6 weeks early too and his first OT eval showed the same issues. He did OT until age 5. He's not sporty, but holds his own in individual sports (swam a 500 yard race at age 10, which I never could have imagined during those NICU days), and his handwriting... well, perhaps he'll be a doctor, but the content is stellar - -and by middle school almost everything is typed. Do the OT, follow through on the activities they suggest at home, listen to their guidance about sports that would be useful, and don't sweat it if team sports never really click. Give him time to learn things -- don't expect him to pick everything up quickly, but encourage him to persevere.

I found that while OT did not result in great penmanship or ball skills for DC, it was very educational for me and gave me much needed insight into the way my child 'works' and what helps him acquire the essential skills for school success. None of the issues he had as a toddler will hold him back from achieving his dreams (which have nothing at all to do with sports or calligraphy, btw ).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here -- we have a meeting with a dev ped coming up. My son was 6 weeks premature. If I had to guess I would say motor apraxia and fine motor skills issues. He's very social, pretend play, empathetic, sensitive, loving, and has lots of joint attention so right now I'm not thinking asd, but who knows. The waiting is hard.

Why would you even think ASD? You son is a preemie. He has motor issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the posters saying OT does not work are those with sensory seeking SPD kids--it seems like people have very mixed results with OT for that particular issue. I haven't seen anyone say OT didn't work for motor issues.

Agree. OT was great for DS's fine motor skills. It didn't do anything for his "sensory issues," which have actually turned out to be part of his ADHD.