RE: OT: Delayed writing

[Guest guest]

We shared this concern too. Our son is 5 and until about 4 months ago had

NO INTEREST in writing or coloring but would scribble to " accommodate " the

task...i.e. in Sunday school and preschool. Our OT began to work with him

kinestetically(sp)...with sand,beans,on the carpet,w/shaving cream,in the

air...she also has worked on hand strength and his spatial perception has

become more correct and he writes letters,his name, and some numbers. He

has even begun on his own to draw picture from Blues Clues tapes he

especially likes and has memorized.... " the clues " . Just since preschool

began, he also drew a bear (more like a snowman)after his teacher asked the

class to draw a bear! I can't recall the program the OT has used but will

try to ask next week. She now is helping him w/ D'Neilian(sp) as the school

will use this. Our son prefers to use " capitals only " w/ writing and we've

been told to press for upper with lower case usage that it's very hard for

Kindergarten teachers to " reteach " when the kids are habituated to ONLY

upper case. Hope this helps. Our son still doesn't like to color and wants

to do his own instructions on work pages i.e. when it says CIRCLE THE ONE IN

THE MIDDLE he wants to circle all...even though he KNOWS the concept of

MIDDLE. " STEP BY STEP " ...Keep on keeping on!

OT: Delayed writing

Our 5 yo son dislikes writing very much because it is very difficult for

him. He just recently began to color although it is all over the page. Has

anyones child been so delayed in writing but eventually was able? Any

recommendations beside OT? Presently we do hand over hand but he is so limp.

I worry because writing is a major part of life.

[Guest guest]

We shared this concern too. Our son is 5 and until about 4 months ago had

NO INTEREST in writing or coloring but would scribble to " accommodate " the

task...i.e. in Sunday school and preschool. Our OT began to work with him

kinestetically(sp)...with sand,beans,on the carpet,w/shaving cream,in the

air...she also has worked on hand strength and his spatial perception has

become more correct and he writes letters,his name, and some numbers. He

has even begun on his own to draw picture from Blues Clues tapes he

especially likes and has memorized.... " the clues " . Just since preschool

began, he also drew a bear (more like a snowman)after his teacher asked the

class to draw a bear! I can't recall the program the OT has used but will

try to ask next week. She now is helping him w/ D'Neilian(sp) as the school

will use this. Our son prefers to use " capitals only " w/ writing and we've

been told to press for upper with lower case usage that it's very hard for

Kindergarten teachers to " reteach " when the kids are habituated to ONLY

upper case. Hope this helps. Our son still doesn't like to color and wants

to do his own instructions on work pages i.e. when it says CIRCLE THE ONE IN

THE MIDDLE he wants to circle all...even though he KNOWS the concept of

MIDDLE. " STEP BY STEP " ...Keep on keeping on!

OT: Delayed writing

Our 5 yo son dislikes writing very much because it is very difficult for

him. He just recently began to color although it is all over the page. Has

anyones child been so delayed in writing but eventually was able? Any

recommendations beside OT? Presently we do hand over hand but he is so limp.

I worry because writing is a major part of life.

[Guest guest]

I will address a few specific comments here.

I do like the OT ideas and other things that many people have

recommended. It does depend on WHY your child does not like to write,

which of these ideas would help.

> Our son still doesn't like to color

and wants

> to do his own instructions on work pages i.e. when it says CIRCLE

THE ONE IN

> THE MIDDLE he wants to circle all...even though he KNOWS the concept

of

> MIDDLE.

Many AS children, including me, are very sensitive to the concept of

equality and fairness, and also symmetry. For example, we will even

treat inanimate objects with fairness, and it can be difficult to

choose one object because we believe that the other objects will be

sad. For symmetry, I like things to be even, and when I was first

learning to write, if my sentence was too long for one line on the

paper, and I had one or two words left over, I would not put them

beginning on the left side of the next line, I would center them.

So your description here about circling all the objects sounds very

similar, I would think the un-circled objects might be sad, so I would

want to circle all of them so none of them would be sad. I would also

not like to circle a single object unless it was the center object, I

would not like the asymmetry of the circled object being to the left

or right of center.

This can also be a subconscious indicator that your child is sad

because frequently left out of games by the other children, so he is

trying to make up for it in the only way he knows how and has control

over. This is a very accurate description of what I was like when

younger.

> OT: Delayed writing

>

>

> Our 5 yo son dislikes writing very much because it is very difficult

for

> him. He just recently began to color although it is all over the

page. Has

> anyones child been so delayed in writing but eventually was able?

Any

> recommendations beside OT? Presently we do hand over hand but he is

so limp.

> I worry because writing is a major part of life.

>

Here is the handwriting link from my site. Perhaps some of my other

issues will apply to your child, and a few of my ideas might help you.

http://home.pacbell.net/cscomp/handwrit.htm

Also, do not make him write too much, especially if it is hard and he

is limp, because too much will make his hand tired, and he will learn

to hate it more. Do many things oral, and the things he writes make

them fun, like sidewalk chalk or writing his own stories or something

he would enjoy.

He may also not like to write because it is hard to make it look nice,

does the teacher insist on making it look nice? He might feel

defeated which is why he won't even try. Perhaps being happy with

whatever he writes, rather than always trying to make it better and

improved, would help him find motivation to write more.

Dana

[Guest guest]

My son will be 8 the end of October, and is just now able to write and color

somewhat neatly. His hand gets very tired so I don't give him too much at any

one time. At age 5 he was very much like your child. Don't give up, he'll get

there...You might want to try letting him play with gfcf playdoh, use big

crayons and pencils, etc. Hope this helps...

OT: Delayed writing

Our 5 yo son dislikes writing very much because it is very difficult for him. He

just recently began to color although it is all over the page. Has anyones child

been so delayed in writing but eventually was able? Any recommendations beside

OT? Presently we do hand over hand but he is so limp. I worry because writing is

a major part of life.

[Guest guest]

My son will be 8 the end of October, and is just now able to write and color

somewhat neatly. His hand gets very tired so I don't give him too much at any

one time. At age 5 he was very much like your child. Don't give up, he'll get

there...You might want to try letting him play with gfcf playdoh, use big

crayons and pencils, etc. Hope this helps...

OT: Delayed writing

Our 5 yo son dislikes writing very much because it is very difficult for him. He

just recently began to color although it is all over the page. Has anyones child

been so delayed in writing but eventually was able? Any recommendations beside

OT? Presently we do hand over hand but he is so limp. I worry because writing is

a major part of life.

[Guest guest]

I have not read all e-mails so if this is repeated I am sorry. We have a

private tutor, who used to be a teacher, work w/Ross a couple hours a day

twice a week. Ross has trouble writing and coloring also. Janet has Ross

write, using a stencil. It has all the letters and #'s on it. It is not

too big or too small. He uses it very well. To get Ross to color, she has

him hold very small pieces of crayons to help him w/the tri-pod hold. Ross

loves #''s, so Janet has him color a large xeroxed # on a plain piece of

paper. He uses notepad at home on the computer, and I am just hoping if he

can't write that well, he will be able to use a lap top of some sort.

Loren

Loren Van De Griek

mommy to - 6yrs, Ross - 4 yrs(ASD), Seth - 22 months

Hickory, NC

" the harder the struggle, the greater the victory "

Shop for great Kay products with me online

at: www.marykay.com/lvandegriek

At 07:54 AM 9/29/2001 -0400, you wrote:

>You can put a chalk board or dry erase board on the wall, or tape a piece of

>paper on the wall and let him draw on it, trace big shapes,etc... This will

>help build up his LOW TONE, which is what I am assuming is the problem, as

>my son has issues with sustained handwriting due to low tone. Having the

>things he is copying be interesting to him will help. Motivation is the key

>here. Good luck!

>

>Laurie

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi , my son also disliked handwriting AND coloring with crayons, but he

DID like colored markers. He just loves school buses, so we bought a Rose art

magna doodle in the shape of a school bus (which got his attention), and it

came with an alphabet stencil, which we taped down (so he did'nt get

frustrated with it moving) and the " pen " traces the letters. We practiced

every day for short sessions, then removed the stencil. Trust me, this was no

easy task to get him to perform. We set a timer for " X " minutes. I added time

for non-compliance, which he understood, and got him motivated to complete

the task without tantrum. I also removed the added time when he completed the

tasks, with a ton of praise and positive reinforcement. It took a lot of

patience, but it got completed, and now he can write freehand, and shows more

interest in his colored creations, since they are hanging all over my house.

He can actually write most of his letters better than the other kids in his K

class. There is'nt a day that goes by that I am not working on his skills:

drawing, coloring, cutting, pasting, and what used to be " difficult " or

" punishing " in HIS eyes, is now becoming a daily part of self-expression and

fun. Colored chalk outside on the driveway or sidewalk also helped us in this

area. Hope this helps, Cheri****

[Guest guest]

Hi , my son also disliked handwriting AND coloring with crayons, but he

DID like colored markers. He just loves school buses, so we bought a Rose art

magna doodle in the shape of a school bus (which got his attention), and it

came with an alphabet stencil, which we taped down (so he did'nt get

frustrated with it moving) and the " pen " traces the letters. We practiced

every day for short sessions, then removed the stencil. Trust me, this was no

easy task to get him to perform. We set a timer for " X " minutes. I added time

for non-compliance, which he understood, and got him motivated to complete

the task without tantrum. I also removed the added time when he completed the

tasks, with a ton of praise and positive reinforcement. It took a lot of

patience, but it got completed, and now he can write freehand, and shows more

interest in his colored creations, since they are hanging all over my house.

He can actually write most of his letters better than the other kids in his K

class. There is'nt a day that goes by that I am not working on his skills:

drawing, coloring, cutting, pasting, and what used to be " difficult " or

" punishing " in HIS eyes, is now becoming a daily part of self-expression and

fun. Colored chalk outside on the driveway or sidewalk also helped us in this

area. Hope this helps, Cheri****