The Dr. says that my dk's should be drawing better by now. I thought they were doing good, they know all their numbers & letters, and my 4 year old is starting to read, but she's right! They can't even draw a stick man! So she said that occupational therapist will tell me the exercizes to do at home to help them.

By Ginny~moderator on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 11:44 am:

Occupational therapy is to get the mind and body to work together to accomplish specific tasks. It is a way of building and strengthening the links between muscles/nerves/brain.

I believe they call it "occupational" therapy to distinguish it from physical therapy, which is concerned with muscle/nerve rebuilding and retraining but without the conscious brain & thinking control links.

By Mommmie on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 12:07 pm:

My son goes to OT once a week. He has fine motor skills issues (you should see his handwriting!) and a couple of other little issues. He loves going. His school has an on-site OT clinic so they just pull him from class and they bill me.

By Pamt on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 02:03 pm:

I am a speech pathologist so I work on inter-disciplinary teams with OTs and PTs. Actually OT addresses upper body issues, ADLs (activities of daily living like dressing, cooking, cutting, writing, feeding), and fine motor skills. It is called "occupational" therapy because the original purpose was to help people return to work after injury. Now OT addresses all kinds of issues, with pediatric therapy being a relatively new area. PT addresses the lower extremities and mobility, primarily. They both incorporate muscle stength and coordination of the whole body and neurological functioning as well. There is a look "shared territory" between OT and PT and also OT and ST.

I am working with an OT and PT right now in a summer camp called Camp ABC. I work on letter-sound correspondence and pre-reading skills, the OT works on handwriting and fine motor skills, and the PT is working on gross motor skills and overall coordination. A lot of kids with handwriting problems also have poor trunk strength, hence the PT. However, an OT who is working with a child on handwriting will also usually work on trunk strength without a PT unless there are additional issues.

If your 4 y/o can't draw simple shapes and figures yet, then it probably won't be a matter of exercises at home, but rather therapy. Most kids love OT and your DKs will probably think it is really fun. In addition to trunk weakness, there can sometimes be some motor planning problems and some children have difficulty coordinating movements to write/draw even though they know what they want to draw. I have a big interest in language-learning disabilities and the OT I work with most has a big interest in handwriting, so we co-treat kids together a fair amount. Let us know how the eval goes.

By Mommierenee on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 02:05 pm:

I see! Well, I am waiting for the referral to come in te mail to take them. Hopefully it will help!
Thanks!

By Mommierenee on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 02:11 pm:

Thanks Pamt!We must have been typing at the same time. You're right, I think that they have to go to therapy sessions also, but I hope they can give me some stuff to do at home with them. They can draw circles, but that's about it. They'll draw something & tell me what it's supposed to be (square, triangle, etc..) but it doesn't look like it! I have tried to get my son to write his letters & he tries, but they're not good. I do practice with them at home, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good so far. I think it's my fault for not letting them color or draw enough so far in their lives, esp. since it's both of them. But I had 3 little babies at one time & they would color on the walls, etc. so they could only color & draw with my supervision (or their father's). Anyway, I hope that they do enjoy it & I will keep you all posted on it!

By Pamt on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 02:20 pm:

Actually Renee, it's probably NOT your fault. These things just happen sometimes and we don't know why. We treat the children of doctors, teachers, and even our fellow therapists on occasion. It's typically not a matter of what the parent did or didn't do.

By Kaye on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 03:25 pm:

Let me give you a success story renee! First some background, I have a sp ed degree and have lot of experience with preschool children. My youngest child had a fine motor problem. I noticed it, but it still didn't click. My other kids were 6,4 and he was 2. Well move a year later and all sorts of other issues cropped up, which make for a long story. But the short version is, he just turned 4 and was finally tested, and he tested out at 14 months. Now he could write his name and colored all the time, but just didn't do it right. When he sat he sat with his legs under him, but out to the side (called W sitting) he was almost over hunched over what he was working on. The worst part was he had a slight tremor when trying to reach across his body with his palm up. I never would have noticed that. He spent a year in a sp ed class and did ot twice a week. We found out in april and I spend a LOT of time working with him over the summer, by time school started he had a slight delay, but was close. By years end he tested out at 60+ months, which means he was now ahead and not behind. So yes your child needs some OT, and this should be structured by a professional, BUT don't wait, you can do a lot with all of your kids. First, make sure your children eat, color, and sit at a table made for them, they need to sit with their backs against a back, their legs at a normal bend and their feet supported. You can get a small table for them, you can buy a special chair (called a trip trap chair), or you can make it work with boosters and phone books We chose the trip trap chair. Within weeks we saw him sitting up a bit more, amazing what being supported right can do for those muscles. Also for trunk strength we had him lay on his stomach and hold himself up with his arms for about 30 mintues a day, we did this with a car rug and mommy laying down and playing. I also made a big effort to get him doing art stuff that was out of his comfort zone. We used finger paints, we let him put shaving cream on the table (or the bathtub), I woudl write in it with a finger and have him trace. I would make sure we used each finger. Also we just made sure we played with lots of small toys. he never really had any idea that we were working, but we had a lot of fun. I used a lot of multisensory stuff with him because he has some sensory issues. So instead of finger painting on paper, we used real canvas. I also cut letters out of sand paper and had him feel those, trace them, color over them etc. My point is this, this is fixable, it can take a long time, it can be a short time, but knowing is half the battle. There are things you can do to help out, think of it as homework. I also got the added benefit from spending great quality time with my baby. With three sometimes it is easy to just sit back and watch and this really made me get more involved.

By Mommierenee on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 04:06 pm:

Wow! Thanks Kaye, that's very inspirational!! I hope this insurance company /Dr. office will hurry with the referral!!

By Mommmie on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 04:40 pm:

If your insurance company covers OT you are way far ahead of the pack!

By Mommierenee on Monday, July 5, 2004 - 01:46 pm:

Really? Oh good, then I guess I will wait patiently!