O/T interventions-what do you do?

I have two kids that I think *may* qualify for O/T but I have to do some interventions first. My plan is pencil grips, fat pencils and I just ordered the traceable alphabet stamps (the dotted ones). I have also written the child's answer lightly and had him trace over it. What else can I do before I say enough is enough, the kid needs help?

Message edited 9/19/2008 8:41:42 PM.

Re: O/T interventions-what do you do?

Have you tried using different kinds of papers?

There is one where it looks like this:

___________________________________
___________________________________

and above the top line is a cloud and below the second line are lines that look like waves.

The child would be told that some letters touch the sky (Capitals, etc), some touch the sea (y, g, j, etc) and some stay in the middle (most lowercase: m, n, a, c, etc.)

Re: O/T interventions-what do you do?

Not sure if this helps, but I learned this at a workshop this summer. It's for kids who have unusual pencil holding issues that cause them to write poorly:

For ten minutes each day, they must write using a proper grip. The rest of the day they can write in their preferred manner. They said that most kids would slowly build up the ability to use the proper grip, and eventually move to using it all the time.

It's only ten minutes a day so that it's not overwhelming to them. I thought it seemed like an interestiing idea- haven't tried it yet, though, so I can't speak to it's effectiveness.

HTH!

Re: O/T interventions-what do you do?

Another thing that I learned is that sometimes the kids need shorter pencils and crayons..also, depending on their wrist strength, they need their paper to be vertical to strengthen their wrist..we have this going on in our room (on an easel). When I speak to O/T people, they say that the fat pencils and crayons are not as beneficial...also, one child I saw had a circle drawn near the end of their pencil to show where they have to grip..hth

Re: O/T interventions-what do you do?

I am not sure where you work, but I am an OT. And yes, we are required to tell the teacher that they must do interventions before they can refer for an evaluation. However, as OT's we are responsible for screening the kids and giving the teachers the interventions to try. You shouldn't have to come up with them by yourself. Do you have an OT in your school that could help you?

Re: O/T interventions-what do you do?