BY CHRIS PURGATORI, MOT, OTRL
KCC Occupational Therapist

Handwriting is a fundamental skill that can directly affect a child’s academic success. Yet, many young children struggle to learn letter formation and continue to have trouble producing age-appropriate writing as they progress through school.

Spending time learning the individual stroke sequences of each letter is imperative. If a child doesn’t have a clear mental picture of how each letter looks, they will have trouble reproducing it from memory.

Here are the recommended steps for young children who are just beginning to write:

• Help your child identify uppercase and lowercase letters. Then compare and match the uppercase and lowercase versions of each letter.
• Have the child trace letters to help them understand the strokes.
• Demonstrate the correct stroke sequence of a letter, then ask the child to imitate you by producing the same letter.
• Ask the child to independently reproduce the letter with correct stroke formation from memory.
• To avoid confusion, children should learn how to write all uppercase letters first before moving to lowercase letters. Repetition is key: be sure the child practices each letter’s formation again and again.
• Once the basics are mastered, be sure to monitor handwriting as the child progresses through school.

Here are a few signs parents should look for that may indicate their child is struggling: Illegible handwriting; fluctuation in the size of letters; unfinished words or sentences; poor pencil grip; poor body position while writing; inability to write for very long due to writing pressure; difficulty organizing ideas on paper; avoidance of writing, leading to anxiety and/or emotional outbursts.

The answer might be as simple as providing a pencil grip for more control, or paper with more space between the lines. If the child still struggles, check with your child’s teacher for further suggestions and consider a visit to a pediatrician to rule out any visual-motor challenges. A professional who specializes in handwriting, such as an occupational therapist, could also help. At the Kaufman Children’s Center, we use tools such as the developmentally based Handwriting Without Tears program, which offers multi-sensory teaching methods and is fun to learn.

If you notice your child is having trouble writing, it is important to take action. When children are able to write letters easily and clearly, they can spend more time focusing on the message they wish to convey.

BY ALBIONA RAKIPIS, MA, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

As a speech-language pathologist who works with young children, I can tell you that one of the best ways to ensure successful therapy is to discover what motivates the child: toys, treats and activities they love that can be used to encourage them to give their all in sessions.

This method is used across the board in our speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and applied behavior analysis (ABA) autism programs.

Discovering the right encouragement for each child takes time, effort and planning. We begin by building trust and trying to figure out their likes and dislikes. Depending on the child, this could take a few sessions, and input from parents can help us better understand who the child is and what motivates them.

Developing a bond and winning the child’s trust is important. They have to know that when you place a demand on them, they will be positively reinforced with one of their highly preferred items or activities. When a difficult task is paired with something the child enjoys, the task itself becomes a positive experience.

Parents can reinforce this positivity by promising something special if the child works hard in therapy. Be sure to communicate this with your therapist, so you’re all on the same page.

Once you discover how to motivate the child, it’s important to keep them motivated by making them feel successful. If every demand we place on a child is difficult, their motivation will decrease. Challenging tasks help move them forward in therapy, but mixing in activities that are easier helps give them frequent feelings of achievement.

Praise is so important! We make sure children know how pleased and excited we are about all their hard work. Children will often match the energy level of the adult they’re working with, so it’s important that we remain enthusiastic.

If you’re able to observe, be sure to compliment them on something specific they did during the session, such as, “I like the way you said ‘open’ when you wanted the box opened.”

Therapy should feel and look fun. Children should feel challenged, successful and reinforced with some of their favorite things. When you discover new and interesting things that motivate your child, don’t hesitate to share them with your therapist.

BY AMY HENGSTEBECK, OTRL
KCC Director of Occupational Therapy & Sensory Programs
Occupational Therapist

Sensory processing refers to the way the brain registers and utilizes all the sensations coming from within the body and from the external environment. It’s how we perceive our surroundings, the people and physical objects in it, how we relate our bodies to them, and how they relate to each other.

Because our brains use information about sights, sounds, textures, smells, tastes and movement in an organized way, we assign meaning to our sensory experiences, and know how to respond accordingly.

Children with sensory processing disorders are unable to appropriately manage this input, making it challenging for them to figure out what is going on inside and outside of their bodies. As a result, a child may avoid confusing or distressing sensations, or seek out the sensation to find out more about it. Because these kids cannot rely on their senses to give them an accurate picture of the world, they are unsure how to respond, and may have trouble learning and behaving appropriately.

Pediatric sensory-processing treatment sessions often look like play and seem that way to the child. The goal of most sessions is to organize the child’s sensory systems and teach the child how to process their environment appropriately.

Equipment and activities in therapy can include swings, obstacle courses, scooter boards, messy play (shaving cream), slides, “crashing” activities (jumping in a ball pit), heavy work (carrying weighted objects), handwriting exercises and fine-motor activities.

Parents can help by implementing a home program in the child’s natural environment. Activities could include navigating obstacle courses; crashing into pillows; swinging in a blanket; rolling up in a blanket like a burrito; playing with rice, dry beans, or sand in a container; carrying heavy objects around, such as laundry or groceries; giving bear hugs and deep squeezes; bouncing on a yoga ball; striking yoga poses; and doing animal walks.

The idea of sensory processing therapy is to employ carefully selected therapeutic sensory experiences and physical interaction to enhance sensory processing. We want to help the children to improve learning, behavior and quality of life.