Introduction to handwriting

Saturday 16th August9-5pm

Presented by Nathan Varma Paediatric Occupational Therapist

OT for Kidswww.otforkids.co.uk

0330 223 0888

IntroductionsWho are we?

• Private Specialised Childrens Occupational Therapy• Handwriting groups, Hydrotherapy, 1:1 assessment and treatment, Reports• Nationwide service

– Head office here, clinics in North West and Midlands

• Formed in 2013 • Large and expanding team

Who am I?• Children's OT• Manage OT for Kids• Expert handwriting trainer

What do we do?• We deliver children’s Occupational Therapy that produces positive results for every

child, parent teacher, organisation and school that accesses our services• Range of equipment available

– Breezi chairs, sloped writing boards, pencil grips

• 0-6 months – Open and relax of hands– Grasp and release objects

• 6-12 months– Place objects in cup– Self feed finger foods– Use of spoon and cylindrical grip

Fine motor development

http://otforkids.co.uk/problems-we-help/delayed-milestones/early-development-0-12-months.html

Fine motor development• 1 - 2 years

– Builds towers out of large blocks– Scribbles with crayons– Able to take socks off– Turns pages of a book one at a time– Uses thumb and index finger to hold crayon

• 2-3 years– Brushes teeth with help– Holds scissors with two hands and can open and close scissors– Starts unbuttoning large buttons– Draw vertical lines– Able to throw a small ball

• 3 - 5 years– Begin to form the shapes needed for writing– Hold the pencil in a pincer grip using the thumb and first finger– Can undo some buttons– Can do up and undo Velcro

Normal handwriting development

• 2-3 years

• Draw straight lines and circles

• Imitate drawing a cross

• Aged 3-4

• Draw a circle

• Begin to hold in tripod position

• Copy a cross and square

• Aged 4-5

• Draw a cross

• Start to colour inside the lines (pencil and fine motor control, hand eye co-ordination)

• Draw recognisable people/objects (proprioception development)

• Begin to draw diagonal lines – Triangle

http://otforkids.co.uk/problems-we-help/delayed-milestones/toddler-and-early-infancy-1-to-3-years.html

http://otforkids.co.uk/problems-we-help/delayed-milestones/infancy-3-to-5-years.html

• Aged 5-7• Development of a dominant hand • Print letters and numbers begin to form words • By 7 years – remain in print writing but neatly within the lines • Draw accurate pictures of person, objects

• Aged 7-10• Development of cursive writing • By 10 years – producing fluent cursive writing accurately within the lines• Accurately use scissors

Normal handwriting development

http://otforkids.co.uk/problems-we-help/delayed-milestones/child-5-to-10-years.html

Coffee 10.30 – 11am

How do most people hold the pencil

• 3 finger tripod

• 4 Finger Grip

Thumb wrap/middle finger guide

Tripod

Static/ Dynamic movements • Static grips

– Tripod– Thumb Wrap– 4 finger– 3 finger tripod– Extended thumb wrap

• Where do the movements come from in a static grip?– Arm/wrist– Shoulder– Scapula

• Dynamic movements – Good hand strength– Fine motor skills– Finger manipulation and dexterity

• What activities can we do to improve these aspects?

• Form perception

• Form Constancy

http://otforkids.co.uk/problems-we-help/visual-perception-difficulties.html

•Difficulty learning the alphabet and recognising words/letters.

•Confusion of similar shapes, letters and numbers

•Mistaking words with similar beginnings or endings.

•Trouble writing and remembering letters.

•Unable to block out distractions on wall displays

•Increased time to complete classroom tasks

Visual discrimination Figure ground discriminationVisual Closure

• Spatial judgment Sizing Orientation

12-1 Lunch and Networking

Assessments

• Split into 4 groups

• Don’t be shy...

http://otforkids.co.uk/services/assessments/index.html

I like this one....

• Advantages of your assessment

• Disadvantages of your assessment

I don’t

Coffee 2 -2.30pm

Treatment• Handwriting programs

• Write from the start, roll and write, speed up – Advantages?– Disadvantages?

• What skill could you improve with?1. Spinning tops2. Playing cards3. Peg boards4. Snap-cubes

• Suitable for group and individual?– Pros and cons of Group/Individual rx

http://otforkids.co.uk/services/treatment/index.html

Our Services

• Individual Assessment and treatment – Dyspraxia/DCD– Autism/ASD– Cerebral Palsy – Sensory Processing Disorder

• Group therapy – Handwriting– Fine motor– Hydrotherapy

• Staff Training– Teachers– OTA’s – Support worker/carer

http://otforkids.co.uk/services/index.html

Any Questions?

Associates

– Opening up services nationwide

• Schools

• Clinics

Sensory Assessments

DCD assessments

Reports

Supervision

Call us – 0330 223 0888