Child and Parent Occupational Wellness

OT Blog for Handwriting Help for Kids

I recently discovered a great blog for students, teachers, parents, and occupational therapists who are school-based.  The entire blog is about handwriting development and assistance for students in school.  I encourage you to take a look: OT For Kids - Handwriting

Does Your Child Have Handwriting Difficulties?

Now that it is almost the end of October, many parents and teachers can see which children are having difficulty with handwriting in school.  Handwriting is a skill that requires specific learning, practice, and refinement.  It is easy to underestimate the amount of skill that goes into learning handwriting.  This is a subject that is not taught in the schools in the USA as it once was.  Back when I was a grammar school student, "penmanship" was an actual subject listed on our report card!  As schools have had to increase test scores and accountability in recent history, the teaching of handwriting has suffered.  This is not a skill that children can just see once and be expected to learn proficiently.  Good handwriting requires strong visual-motor skills, kinesthesia (muscle memory), visual-perceptual skills, fine motor strength, bilateral control, and coordination.  Children who fall behind in handwriting skills often suffer from low self esteem and a sense of failure as they approach the upper-primary and middle school grades and cannot keep up with the volume required for note-taking in class.

Children need to learn how to write by example.  They need the time to practice and learn it as a motor skill in memory (much like shooting a foul shot in basketball or having a great golf swing!)

As an occupational therapist, I strongly recommend the Handwriting Without Tears  program, created by occupational therapist Jan Olsen over 25 years ago.  It is an award-winning curriculum that has been adopted by many education departments/schools across the United States and Canada.  It is a developmentally-based handwriting program that is easy to learn for typical children, as well as those with special needs.  It is a multi-sensory approach to handwriting that is simple and fun for children.  "Handwriting difficulty" continues to be one of the most popular referrals for school-based OT services, even for those students who are not "special needs".

So, parents...if your child is displaying difficulty with handwriting (poor letter formation, letter reversals, placement on the line, poor spacing, etc.) -- be patient and seek out the assistance of an occupational therapist or handwriting specialist who can guide your child through the appropriate developmental stages of handwriting.  Do not underestimate the multitude of skills that are required to produce good handwriting.  Your children will benefit from patience, proper teaching, and time for refinement of the skill. It is a skill that they will carry with them for life, regardless of whether or not they learn to use a computer! 

Also, I have found another wonderful and thorough occupational therapy website...for more specific information on the components of handwriting (and all things OT!), please click on:

Why Is Handwriting So Challenging?   

Hey Parents, do you have questions about school-based occupational therapy services?

The month of September is nearing its end and most students are getting settled into their new classrooms and schedules for the year.  Many parents who may be concerned about their child's abilities in the classroom tend to have questions about what kinds of services are available in school to help their child succeed in school and maximize their potential.   The following article from the American Occupational Therapy Association  written by Ashley Opp Hoffman addresses some of these concerns.  For more information about school based occupational therapy services, parent tips for helping your child succeed in school, and tips on fine motor development and handwriting, visit www.aota.org.

 

What Parents Need to Know

About School-Based Occupational

Therapy

Ashley Opp Hofmann

When a school informs parents that it recommends occupational therapy for their child, parents tend to have a lot of questions. Their first question?

What is occupational therapy?

Occupational therapy is a health profession in which therapists and therapy assistants help individuals to do and engage in the specific activities that make up daily life. For children and youth in schools, occupational therapy works to ensure that a student can participate in the full breadth of school activities—from paying attention in class; concentrating on the task at hand; holding a pencil, musical instrument, or book in the easiest way; or just behaving appropriately in class.

Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help students perform particular tasks necessary for participation or learning. “The whole purpose of school-based occupational therapy is to help kids succeed,” says pediatric occupational therapist Leslie Jackson. Occupational therapy practitioners don’t just focus on the specific problem that a child’s disability may present; rather, they look at the whole child and tackle individual tasks, helping students find ways to do the things they need and want to do.

Usually, occupational therapy is provided to students with disabilities. But occupational therapy can be made available to other children who are having specific problems in school. Occupational therapy practitioners also work to provide consultation to teachers about how classroom design affects attention, why particular children behave inappropriately at certain times, and where best to seat a child based on his or her learning style or other needs. Occupational therapy may be recommended for an individual student for reasons that might be affecting his or learning or behavior, such as motor skills, cognitive processing, visual or perceptual problems, mental health concerns, difficulties staying on task, disorganization, or inappropriate sensory responses.

A common manifestation of difficulties in school involves handwriting, in many cases because this is a key “occupation” that students must master to succeed in school. A teacher might notice that a student cannot write legibly or has serious problems in other motor tasks. The occupational therapy practitioner can work with the teacher to evaluate the child to identify the underlying problems that may be contributing to handwriting difficulty. The occupational therapy practitioner looks at the child’s skills and other problems (including behavior), in addition to his or her visual, sensory, and physical capabilities. They also take into account the school, home, and classroom environments to find ways to improve the handwriting or to identify ways the child can compensate, such as using a computer.

Accessing school-based occupational therapy is fairly straightforward, but it is the school team who makes the decision of whether or not a student requires occupational therapy. Not every student needs occupational therapy, even if the student has a disability. Those who do may have problems that the teacher can address after consulting with an occupational therapy practitioner and modifying their teaching technique or the environment for the entire class.

The education team could recommend one-on-one services. Usually these services are integrated as much as possible into the child’s routine to promote better integration of skills.

Students with disabilities have been able to receive occupational therapy at school since the 1975 passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which served as the original impetus for school-based occupational therapy. The law stipulates that students with disabilities must have access to the occupational therapy if they need it to benefit from special education. In 2001, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act which requires schools to improve the academic achievement of all students, including those with disabilities. In 2004, the reauthorization of IDEA extended the availability of occupational therapy services to all students, not just those with disabilities, in order to fully participate in school.

Parents, though, have a lot of the responsibility when it comes to their child’s success in school, and their involvement becomes doubly important when an occupational therapy practitioner enters the picture. First, Jackson suggests getting to know the teachers and occupational therapist.

“Share information about what your child does at home, raise whatever concerns you have, find out what sorts of things you can do with your child to help him or her succeed,” she says.

“Occupational therapy practitioners have important knowledge and expertise to share. Take advantage of it.”

DOG-GONE Therapy!!! How Therapy is "Going to the Dogs"

There is much to be said about the human-animal bond, especially for children.  As the daughter of a veterinarian, I grew up with all kinds of pets.  We had dogs, hamsters, rabbits, birds, and fish.  Though I loved them all, I cannot say enough about the wonderful experience of growing up with my rabbits and dogs.  Most people who know me personally have probably heard at least one story about my beloved rabbit, "Cocoa", who came to his cage door when you knocked, who chased a ball, hung out with my dog, and learned to swim in my pool -- yes, you read correctly -- a swimming rabbit.

If people I know haven't heard about Cocoa, they have certainly heard about Raja and Ginger (pictured below), my parents' adorable mother-daughter combo of yellow labrador retrievers with whom I had the great pleasure of spending my adolescent and college years.

            

Companion animals provide many things to their human counterparts.  I can speak first hand about the security, unconditional love, socialization, and friendship that my pets provided me with (not to mention the nurturing skills and empathy that comes along with the responsibility of caring for another living creature).  These are but some of the qualities that make animals (especially dogs) such appealing partners in therapy. 

Therapy dogs are currently practicing alongside their occupational therapist owners/handlers in a variety of ways.  Dogs take part in therapy sessions to increase motivation in the child while the OT directs the treatment process to help the child reach his/her therapeutic goals. 

Some examples of this include:

• Improving gross motor skills such as bilateral upper extremity use, balance, and body awareness (possibly by having the child pet, brush, and do an activity with the dog, among other ways).
• Improving fine motor skills by having the child place objects/treats on the dog's vest, manipulate buckles on the dog's collar, utilizing a leash.
• Sensory integration skills/sensory stimulation - tactile awareness through petting the soft fur of the dog, regulating muscle control/force of upper extremities through touch.
• Visual perception- identifying colors/patterns on dog, categorizing, etc.
• Socialization/Sequencing- by talking to the dog and giving commands, children learn to communicate.  They can learn sequencing skills by following certain directions from the therapist to complete a "task" with the dog.

Dogs are unconditionally loving.  They are non-judgemental and they are social.  These qualities are appealing to children and often times can motivate a child more than a human could.  Children who are typically shy or withdrawn may come out of their "shell" in the presence of a therapy dog and take part more fully in the therapy session.  They can form an emotional attachment and friendship with the dog, which ensures increased motivation for future treatment sessions.

Therapy dogs are currently taking part in programs with children to improve sensory integration, increase social skills, improve literacy and handwriting, improve gross and fine motor skills, and more.  Dogs are specially trained to work with certain populations in a therapeutic environment.  The treatment sessions are directed by the therapist/dog handler.  Check out this report about animal assisted therapy at Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio:

If this topic is of interest to you as a parent or professional, I strongly recommend checking out the following link, which is a current weblog by an OT in Texas about her practice with her therapy dog and children.  It is a first-hand glimpse into the world of occupational therapy and how a dog is incorporated into sessions to elicit all kinds of responses from children in order to help them maximize their functioning.  The site includes pictures and videos of therapy sessions in action: 

                      Jumpstart Therapies Animal Assisted Therapy Program

Also, the following link is to an article about a literacy program that originated in the western United States and uses therapy dogs: Kids + Dogs = Combination for Paw-rrific Reading Adventures.

For more specific information on animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and the training of therapy dogs and their handlers, click on:

The Delta Society - Improving Human Health Through Service and Therapy Animals.

Lastly, refer to the sidebar of this site under "Animal Assisted Therapy/Therapy Dogs" for future updates on information and articles on this subject.

I welcome any personal stories & anecdotes regarding therapeutic experiences with therapy dogs and/or other animals.  Please share!