My seven year old scored very poorly on visual motor skills and fine motor
skills. Handwriting is terrible. She is getting OT at school but is only
getting 30 minutes a week. She is not progressing very much.
My insurance will not pay for OT and the school says it cannot do
more than 30 minutes a week because they only have a part time therapist.
Any ideas out there for things I can do at home? My child’s visual percepiton
skills were very high - that of an 11 year old.
Thanks.
Re: visual motor
Hand writing is directly related to motor sequencing and timing, as well as, auditory memory. Improving these areas will improve fine motor skills. One way to improve sequencing and timing is through Interactive Metronome. Once your daughter can remember a sequence of at least 6 digits her handwriting will improve.
Mep
Have you asked the OT if you could meet with her and get a home program to supplement the work she does with your son. My son has just started doing OT privately and she had him pinch a pea size piece of clay off a ball of clay and work it between his index and thumb, then he took another piece off the ball with the middle finger and thumb and worked it into a ball. He continued the exercise with each finger and the thumb. He was mirroring the exercise with his other hand which she said was a sign of sensory over-load (sort of like when you lift a heavy load and strain your facial muscles in reaction to the over stressing). I’m not sure if this is just a diagnostic exercise or if it is also used as therapy. I’ll get back to you as I learn more.
He is also asked to trace the outline of characters in colouring books and he plays commercial games (I think one is called Acrobats) were you have to build a pyramid of acrobats and then care fully remove them with out causing them to tumble.
If you are able to get some info from your OT, please share it with me.