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 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.

Our 3.5 year old son was evaluated over the summer by Mont Co and found eligible for OT services due to poor handwriting grasp and to improve overall strength with his grasp. We also decided to do private OT therapy and also recommend Cheryl Bregman as well. Although, our son is still struggling -- we have seen improvements since he is doing OT twice a week. He really enjoys the OT activities as they make it fun for him -- they do all sorts of beading, fun hand activities, wheel barrow walking with his hands, playdough, finger painting, etc...

I second the recommendation for private OT. It's likely that it's not just handwriting that is affective and a private OT will be looking at soem othe rthings. Some of the OT practices also have specialized groups for handwriting. We go to Children's Therapy Center (Springfield/Sterling) and they have a Happy Handwriters Group that is effective http://www.pediatric-therapy.com/intervention_options.html

If you can afford it, I would do private OT in addition to whatever the school gives. Even if he gets 30 minutes a week with the school OT, he will miss a lot of weeks for various reasons (holidays, OT has a meeting, etc.). He will progress more quickly if you supplement with private. I can recommend Cheryl Bregman who created her own writing program, Move Into Writing. She is in Rockville. Also, Dynamic Development on East West Highway in Bethesda. They use the handwriting without tears program.

22:48 here - for the parent concerned about her son not drawing yet - it will come! Our experience was first our DD learned how to cut with scissors and spent age 5.5-7 cutting out paperdolls and other things all the time. There are Kumon workbooks for cutting and drawing. Even though she learned a functional pencil grip at around age 5.5 she didn't write much until age 7. She goes to a Montessori school that promotes crusive writing which is much easier for my DD than printing. She started writing lots of silly stories at the end of 2nd grade, after she mastered reading. Now she draws, cuts and writes all the time (will a wacky pencil grip but it gets it done).

OP here, thanks for all the helpful responses and tips. My DS is meeting with the OT for a free screening tomorrow and we will go for there. The school does use the handwriting without tears program but it apparantly causes tears for him because he is struggling with the letters.

Yes, we are currently doing OT for my 5 year old DS. He is still improving but it does impact his ability in school. His writing still isn't great but his pencil grip is better, his cutting is better. My main concern is that he really does not draw. We finally got something that resembled a picture probably the quality of the average 3 year old but it was a start. He was assessed at being over a 1.5 year behind. He is slow at writing but can write and form all his letters guided and unguided. They are not always neat, and often shaky.

Does your kid do sports or anything? Look up things you should do to improve fine motor skills. A lot of the fine motor has to do with strength in their stabilizer and core muscles. So they will spend time on strength exercises.

-Swinging
-Legos
-throwing a ball
-cutting

There are lots of other things to do, google it and you will find several ways to improve your child muscles. Given your childs age start them in sports that might strengthen their muscle one, do OT and visit the park to swing a lot.

A have heard that swinging is one of the best things to do. Good Luck.

My DD did OT for one year to strengthen her fine motor skills. She started at age 4.5 when she couldn't hold a pencil properly for more than a second and she couldn't cut with scissors. After one year of OT she master cutting with scissors and her pencil grip isn't perfect but it's functional. We're all very happy.

My experience is this. When you get to the point where Handwriting Without Tears is enough, the OT will make the recommendation. Sounds like the teacher thinks that your child lacks the physical ability to be able to write.

You may also want to look into a program called handwriting without tears.

It is definitely worth an assessment from an ot. Does your child have low muscle tone...handwriting is often affected by this. You can buy theraputty (google it) for hand strengthening & dexterity in the meantime. Can your son draw a good circle, diagonal, rectangle, square? Those are the pre-writing shapes that really must be mastered before a child can start to write their letters (at least that is what our OT tells us). good luck

Or you could just hire a tutor for less money to work on handwriting.

Anonymous wrote:My son recently started Kindergarten and his teachers suggested that we have him meet with an occupational therapist at school to help him strengthen his fingers and improve his hand control. Has any used OT for this issue and seen positive results? Thanks.

I don't know, but I just turned 40 and could use this therapy myself. My handwriting is terrible.

My son recently started Kindergarten and his teachers suggested that we have him meet with an occupational therapist at school to help him strengthen his fingers and improve his hand control. Has any used OT for this issue and seen positive results? Thanks.