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My son has been in a special needs integrated public school preschool for almost 2 full school years and is five. He's set to go to mainstream K next fall, with a full time para, OT, PT, and pragmatic speech (all continuing what he is doing now.) His fine motor skills are pretty severely delayed, and he has an extremely difficult time with handwriting. At our last P/T conference in February, the preschool teacher painted what I felt was a really grim picture of him being really "in trouble"… read more
Answer Summary
Parents shared reassurance about kindergarten readiness for a child with fine motor delays, with many describing similar experiences where... Read more
I was there. My advice is "don't worry about it." My son couldn't hold a pencil in preschool and by the time he was in 1st grade he was featured in the regional art show. Many of my 9th grade students are on the spectrum. Some of them have great handwriting. Many do not. Its okay. Many school encourage kids to type their papers anyway. Remember that its the school district's job to make accommodations for your child. Your child doesn't have to do anything but give his best effort.
@A MyAutismTeam Member, if you are really really worried, let me know. I will give you some tips or send you links to some helpful websites. Also, ask your pediatrician if you guys can get short-term private OT via insurance to work on this skill. You will need to come at it from a self-care perspective because doctors won't recommend private therapy for "educational skills." But if you say your child is having real difficulties with fine motor skills related to eating, dressing and other self-care skills they may be more apt to agree to give you a referral. I know it's awful that you have to "play" the system but it's the only way...
I had forgot to mention I am a teacher's aide as well as a mother of a son who is a aspie. Try writing a word or sentence in a yellow highlighter have your child trace the word or sentence in pencil. just a suggestion.
@A MyAutismTeam Member...I know what you mean about the stress of the K transition. We're at the same place as well. Here are a couple tricks I learned from watching my son's OT sessions: 1. Break a crayon in half and have your child use that to write. It will help with proper tripod grasp. 2. Let him play 'pick up' using a clothes pin (with spring action). That helps strengthen grasping muscles.
My 13 y/o's handwriting is and always has been abysmal. And he does it mighty slow too. In third grade they introduced hi to a keyboard (NEO) and now he does just fine. There's less emphasis on writing and more on the content.
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