Seeking Advice on Writing Skills

K....is your daughter receiving OT through LIU? My son is in a very similar situation (although he is 5 and will do the "bonus year" at the LIU in the fall and start kindergarten fall 2009 when he is 6). He is about 18 months delayed, so he is developmentally about 3 1/2 right now. He recognizes all of his letters but cannot write them at all. If I hold my hand over his, he can trace them (even if I don't apply pressure or guide his hand - go figure!) but everything looks like a stick or a circle. His OT through the LIU works and works with him, but she just can't get him to hold the pencil correctly. We practice and practice at home with no luck - the second I let go of the pencil or crayon he grabs it in his first instead of with his fingers. I have recently been reading up on dysgraphia...I don't think it actually fits - I think he's just significantly behind in his fine motor skills. Like your daughter, once he *gets* a skill, that's it - he gets it completely...I'm hoping this falls into that category.

Many years ago I found triangular shaped pencils for my older son and they really helped him grip better - he could never work with the rubber grips, all of them bugged him, but these really worked for him. I'm going to go on a mission to find these for Riley - they are thicker than regular pencils (more like the kind they use in kindergarten) but have three sides. Perhaps different shapes, or different grippers might help if you haven't tried that with your daughter (if you're anything like me, I've tried EVERYTHING...). I also let him do a lot of writing with white boards and write-on/wipe-off books. I got a GREAT one at BJs several months ago...it's HUGE and so are the letters. While he doesn't trace them, he does color them in and each time it gets a little closer to being in the lines...baby steps, right?

If she's not getting OT through the LIU, I know the clock is running down on the year, but there is still some time left and you'll have the summmer session, so it might be worth a shot. If she IS getting OT in preschool, I would DEFINITELY have a conversation with her OT about your concerns and ask that they step it up ASAP. Our OT through LIU is very nice, but she isn't very aggressive (I don't mean this in a mean sense, rather in a really pushing him sense). I also have Riley working with a private OT now and she works with him on this as well. I just keep hoping that if he gets it from a variety of places it will click...eventually.

Good luck - feel free to shoot me a note privately if I can be of help...I KNOW how frustrating this is! ~H.

Don't worry about her not being able to write letters on her own. Her kindergarten teacher will work with her on that. It is not necessary for her to be able to write the letters before entering kindergarten.

Dear K.,
I am assuming that you've already consulted with your local LIU staff about your concerns. (If you haven't now is the time to call) Since your daughter will be entering kindergarten with an LD you should have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for her. If they haven't already put one together for her, know that you are a part of this process. You know best what her strengths and weaknesses are. An IEP meeting is NOT where everyone gets together and they present you with papers to sign. It IS where they present you with and explain the options, and their opinions of how best to proceed. YOU play a big role, and you DON'T have to just sign a pre-formatted set of papers. I say this because I went through this with my stepson. BTW, if you haven't already, get a binder of some sort to file EVERYTHING that you get about her LD and LIU stuff. This will make life organized and less stressful when you want to refer to stuff. Practically speaking, my almost 5-year old LOVES to do "school" papers. He has an LD, currently receives PT and Speech, and we're planning to send him to a local Christian school, since he doesn't seem to be exceptionally delayed, and they should be able to work with him. The "school" papers that I mentioned are mostly preschool worksheets. Wal-Mart and most education stores sell them in varying levels. On Friday he did a paper that had some different shapes made with dotted lines. I traced the triangle at the top to show him how, and then let him do it. It wasn't perfect, but he did his best, and it was pretty good. As for the blank sheets of paper - she will almost certainly not have to do anything like right away in kindergarten, especially with the developmental delays. Don't stress about it just yet. The school year is several months away, and a lot can happen between now and then. You didn't mention if she ever just draws pictures on blank paper. This would be good practice. Coloring books are great, especially for learning control skills needed to stay in the lines, and fine motor, hand-eye coordination. However, blank paper allows kids to have the freedom to do anything they want. I've noticed that my son tried to stay in the lines more when he colors, but a blank sheet will have many more colors and often he'll "accidentally" write a letter or draw a shape, just as part of his drawing. She also may be sensing your distress over the fact that she's struggling, and that may be causing her to "freeze up" with the blank sheets also. Developmental delays often mean difficulty in "testing" in traditional methods, particularly writing. Relax and have some fun writing. Perhaps you could each got a blank sheet, and you could sit side-by-side or across a table from each other and talk while "writing" or drawing. Just some thoughts and ideas. I hope it helps. I'll be praying for you both.

Hi K.!

I don't know if this will help, but instead of writing the whole letter, can you just have her write uppercase circles on the paper, and then lower case circles on the paper. (So the paper will look like capital O's and small o's.) Have her lay down a finger between the circles and start the next circle about a finger-width away from the next circle. After she has done that for 3 minutes each day for a week, have her make straight up-and-down lines on the paper for 2 lines, then 2 lines of Os and os for 3 minutes. Then, the next week, have her make slanted lines where the high point is to the right for only one line. Have her do a line of circles. Have her do a line of straight verticle lines. Then on the next line, show her that a small a is a circle with a short vertical line touching the the right side of the cicle. Have her draw that. Then have her draw 2 more. That's it for the day. The next day, ask her what a small a looks like. Hopefully, she will say something like, "a circle with a straight line next to it." Then, she can draw it, and have her draw a line of those.

From there you can introduce new letters like b's and d's and have her keep practicing the slant lines. I think it's best to keep the lesson at 3 minutes per day. If you don't get all that in one day, stretch it to 4.

I'd love to know if this helps you. If not, I really wish you the very best and hope you can find something or someone else who will be able to help, too!