How to help my child at home-OT

amother

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 9:52 am

My almost 4 year olds morah told me that my son would need some OT.
He finds it hard to colour for more that a few seconds and neatly, he also cant cut well at all. I saw what the other boys do and she is right.
Its also affecting his self esteem as he keeps on telling me and the morah that he cant do it.
I really cant afford OT at the moment though would love to help him, what can I do to help him at home?? would tracing help or what?? any OT can chime in here?
If my only choice is to send him I guess I will somehow find the money though would really like to first try myself.

amother

Linen

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 9:57 am

If you live in NYC you can request an evaluation.

Also, if you practice with him every day, he will show improvement. His poor coloring may be due to poor grasp of the crayon. How does he hold the crayon? Is it a regular grasp or a barrel grasp? He may be pressing too hard or too lightly on the paper. Have him practice cutting straight lines. Help him position his thumb up when cutting. Show him his helper hand to hold the paper to make cutting easier. When he graduates straight lines have him do a rectangle or squares . Practice maneuvering the scissor and helper hand during a turn. When he masters that he can try circles. Practice every day. It can be simple things at first and gradually get harder when you see he starts mastering things.

amother

Junglegreen

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 11:36 am

Ideally it would be worth you having at least one initial assessment for the OT to tell you where the issues lie. Then have strategies you can work on yourself at home. That would be my best suggestion.
I can suggest ideas but without knowing where the real issue lies, it's hard to give accurate advice. Also is it coming from a physical issue or does he simply not enjoy fine motor work? He may not have the patience for coloring or cutting. How is he with painting? Putting puzzles together? Working with playdough? Can he draw a line from one dot to another, draw a circle or other shapes independently?
Is it an attention issue, rather than a physical issue? When you say he can't cut well is it that he struggles to hold the scissors and follow a line? Or is it cutting more complex shapes?
If his issues stem from weak big muscles, he may be tiring in his core and struggle to have the strength to continue.
It might be his fine motor skills just aren't as developed. Do a lot of working finger exercises, large tweezers or tongs to pick things up, putting small things into slots, putting clothes pegs on and off etc. Cutting is an end skill once the fine motor are developed.
Remember every child develops at their own rate and speed and 4 is still young. Coloring in the lines neatly is a skill I wouldn't expect most 4yo children to have perfect.

foreverwaiting

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 2:46 pm

OT here. Feel free to PM. Best would be to get an evaluation and then school services paid through CPSE (state). Or via Dr/medical insurance. What state /insurance do you have? I'm happy to also give you some tips and tricks but without a proper eval, it's hard to see where issues stem (is it a motor coordination problem, muscle strength, visual tracking etc). Hope this helps.

Brit in Israel

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 2:55 pm

Get his eyes checked!!!!!!
Now that there is a proper ways of checking babies and toddlers eyes without relying on what the child says they have seen a vast amount of young children who struggled with hand & eye coordination just need glasses.
It could be they will also need some help to catch up with peers but definitely worth checking eyes by a children's eye Optometrist.
We saw unbelievable difference with my daughter, BH caught it very early.

amother

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 3:34 pm

Thank you so much.
I just thought my son was pretty average but then his morah told me this and im not sure what to do.
Truthfully im not so happy with the morah, she is a older girl that makes the kids sit a lot and not so much playing time. but it is what it is.
I have seen him colour and cut at home but I thought it was age appropriate for a boy, when I went to pick him up today he showed me something he had cut today, there was almost nothing left of it and he sadly told me I dunno how to cut.
I saw the other boys had all done a much better job.
I will make an appt to check his eyes.
im in Israel for reference

Brit in Israel

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 3:40 pm

amother OP wrote:

I took my daughter to DR Ariella Lipshitz, She is a child's specialist on Kanfei Neshorim. make the appt tomorrow they usually have a waitlist but my sil this evening told me she managed to get her daughter an appointment today for tomorrow as all specialist have much more cancellations as a lot of ppl are not coming in from out of town. if they don't have keep calling after 4 for cancellations. (she is private but takes meuhedet, could also be others) they have a glasses store in the place but you dont have to buy there.

Brit in Israel

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 3:48 pm

I will also add, if your son does need OT it can be done through the kupat cholim that you have, I think I paid for my Daughter approx 30shk per session.
His Morah will need to fill out a form, and you will have to, then he will have an assessment, it can also take time till you get seen so it might be a good idea to get on the waitlist.
By me they ended up giving my daughter a few session to be honest not even sure why, neither did the therapist but they wanted her to have the sessions to help her concentration before she started school and before she turned 6 so we didn't have to pay full price.

Happy to help with any questions on how to go about with the Israeli system as best as I can you can pm me.

amother

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 4:19 pm

Brit in Israel wrote:

Thank you where do I get a form to fill out to apply for therapy

Brit in Israel

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 4:31 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thank you where do I get a form to fill out to apply for therapy

Call the clinic near you, say to them the Morah says your son needs OP how to I go about it and they will explain it.
They should email you a copy but if you don't have a printer ask if you can come pick it up.

Now I'm actually remembering that we might have anyways needed to provide them with an eye test result together with the form.
I know for speech therapy we had to do an hearing test which had close to a year wait and then also 8 month wait for speech therapy.
She had all of them so it could be I'm confusing it so best to ask them.
But definitely start now as the waits are very long I don't know if it's specifically in my area.
I'm so happy we started early as it saved her from staying down which in some cases are good but for her would have been terrible as she is clever.

amother

Blueberry

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 5:04 pm

Another OT here - give him as much gross motor and strengthening as you can. Crawling, walking on his hands, monkey bars, any and all movement and strengthening is beneficial. Practicing the skills in question is not where the deficit lies and is not where the significant change will come from. If there wasn’t an underlying deficit he wouldn’t be struggling with these tasks in the first place