Re: Re: handwriting decline

[Guest guest]

My son as well. His writing became really bad when he was 10. He had trouble

with his thumb joint and wrist, but is much better on the Naproxen &

Methotrexate. PT and OT has really helped!

& , 12, poly

From: amberlynn2181@...

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:09:52 +0000

Subject: Re: handwriting decline

Yes we are having the same problem. . . my son who will be 5 in a few weeks has

been struggling with hand writting all year! It has been a major challenge to

get him to do it at all. . . he has never complaimned of arthritis in his hands

(his knees, ankles and feet are the worst) but his teacher called and told us

that is seemed to be getting worse over the last couple of weeks (he had been

dropping stuff more ect.) So that night when I went home I checked out his

fingers and sure enough his index and small fingers were swollen (or bigger than

the others I should say) My son has systemic on JIA and is on Kineret his

systemic features are much better but after this I talked to his doctor and she

said that the Kineret sometimes works miracles for the Systemic portion of the

disease but sometime the arthritis part still gets worse. Right now she has put

us back on the Naproxen BID and it has seemed to make a little bit of difference

but not as much as we would have hoped so we may need to go back on the steroids

. Let me know if you find anything else out that may be helpful. Our Doctor in

Cincinnati is going to have us do some OT when we go out in a week so maybe that

will help.

>

> My daughter's handwriting goes in cycles. It's never been as small and neat as

most of the 5th graders, but sometimes it is really terrible. She doesn't

complain of joint pain in her fingers, but she claims during these bad cycles,

she can't write any better than this. Does this sound like arthritis in the

fingers? Her fine motor skills aren't that great either,but they seem passable

for her age. We went to a neurologist, but he did not feel she was having

seizures, so he didn't order an eeg. Both he and her teachers think it might be

a visual spacial disability or the neuro just thinks she has poor fine motor

skills. They are supposed to assess her, but with the budget cuts in California,

it seems to be taking forever. I hate discussing it with her rheumatologist,as

suddenly she has pain that she never felt before. Are your kids' handwriting

poor if they are having a flair and overall below average in that area? I

realize some kids probably can't write at all.

>

> Jo

>

[Guest guest]

Hmmmm,

You know you all got me wondering about Bradley. He has no active arthritis

in any of his joints but his handwriting is ATROCIOUS!! He is in 1st and it

is ok, but definitely big and hard to read at times. I just thought it was

because he was trying to do things too fast but now I am wondering if he

just gets tired from writing?? I had mentioned this to his Rheumy last year

I believe for Kinder but she didn't seem too concerned with it. Maybe I am

making a big deal out of nothing? Hmmm...

marie (mommy to Bradley-Pauci, ANA+ and Uveitis)

On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 8:41 AM, ahna08@... <ahna08@...> wrote:

>

>

> My is 7.5 and in first grade...he was dxed with developmental delays

> at age 3.5...two years before the JIA dx. His FMS have always been

> terrible...as has his writing and drawing ability. He has poly which impacts

> among other joints...his shoulders, elbows, and fingers.

>

> At age 4 he started seeing an OT for sensory issues...she noted he had

> 'weak' shoulders...little did we know. He was released from the OT at age

> 5...before his dx of poly.

>

> Last year we spoke to his rheumy about his and our frustration in regard to

> FMS...specifically handwriting. We started seeing an OT weekly last fall and

> the progress he has made is amazing. For a while we thought he would never

> be able to write well enough for school and we even mentioned getting him a

> keyboard for school.

>

> We do private OT...the school would not offer it to him because " if you

> tried hard enough and had an idea about what he was writing...you could read

> it. " . So we went private...our insurance does cover it ($15 copay only)

>

> shows NO signs of active disease yet he still struggles with

> writing...so yes I beleive it is possible that it cycles....even when they

> are not flaring.

>

> also has some visual tracking issues due to his nystagmus...

>

> All the best,

> & , 7, poly, nystagmus...SPD...

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

>

>

--

~marie~

[Guest guest]

You know, it could be the arthritis. It could also be something else. My

son (10) does not have JRA but he does have truly horrid handwriting - its

worse than his little kinder sister. He was diagnosed with dysgraphia in

second grade, which is both mechanical and mental in nature, sort of like

dyslexia. He actually has OT and an IEP at school for it (well, and his

ongoing health issues).

I do think its very worth following up with somebody. The sooner the problem

is resolved, the better. And the school district can provide OT services to

help Bradley with his handwriting regardless of whether it is the JRA or

something unrelated.

Michele (mom to K, 12, pauci/ANA+/uveitis)

Re: Re: handwriting decline

Hmmmm,

You know you all got me wondering about Bradley. He has no active arthritis

in any of his joints but his handwriting is ATROCIOUS!! He is in 1st and it

is ok, but definitely big and hard to read at times. I just thought it was

because he was trying to do things too fast but now I am wondering if he

just gets tired from writing?? I had mentioned this to his Rheumy last year

I believe for Kinder but she didn't seem too concerned with it. Maybe I am

making a big deal out of nothing? Hmmm...

marie (mommy to Bradley-Pauci, ANA+ and Uveitis)