Refusal to draw or write

[Eva]

Hi all,

 

my son (5.5) is still at the scribbling stage of drawing. Representational drawing doesn't mean anything to him. When it comes to writing, he knows (sort of) how to form letters but he has no control of the pencil, unless someone is supporting his wrist.

 

I'm wondering if drawing and writing will just happen one day, or if it's always going to be a struggle, (time will tell, I know). Does anyone have any suggestions with things I can do to encourage him to try? Or any techniques that might help? We've been to see an OT and we've got lots of exercises to do to help his fine motor control and upper body strength, but getting him to do them is another story!!

 

Cheers,

Eva

[Guest hallyscomet]

Hi Eva,

 

I suggest you stick it out with the OT they do help, also buying a triangular pen grip to stick on the pencil helps them to get a proper hold of the pencil, my son needed OT for this as well, as he used to hold the pencil with his fist.

 

Also have assistance at school with a Special Needs teacher was essential. Do you get this support if you havent I would be talking to the principal, as they get funding for this and you are entitled to it. They fill in some forms to get extra funding to support them. The funding my son received for the school gave them funds to get complete new playground equipment to support him too, thats how much the catholic system helps Special Needs children. Not sure about the public system in this case though.

 

Also, My son has ASD & ADHD and it wasnt until he was put on Ritalin & Catapres that he painted his first picture of a dog and was able to say what it was. My son wasn't capable of many things we take for granted until he was trialled on these medications.

 

If in doubt get a referral to a good Paediatrician that specialises in ASD & ADHD they will be your childs greatest alley over the years and ours actually set up a meeting with the school to advise them how much support my child would need in special needs and in getting his medications every 3 hours.

 

If you child doesnt have ADHD ignore the meds but still talk to your Paediatrician as they can really get the teachers to listen.

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Hope this helps,

 

Regards

Hailey

[elainem]

Hi Eva

 

my ds is also 5.5 and has made some progress, although still very behind. We have lots of strategies being used

 

- handwriting programme Handwriting Without Tears (OT recommended) and funded by LEA

- sloping board for writing

- little exercises to develop fine motor control and using the things ds loves - eg he loves drains so I draw a huge drain pipe, he has to draw a line all the way down (it's a very winding one!!) I then draw poos in it and he has to colour in (I know!!!!) - the things he has to colour in are very small so just concentrating on very small fine motor movement. Anything really where he either has to colour in tiny objects or where he has to follow the lines (always inbetween 2 lines not dot to dot). This worked because it wasn't like 'work' it was a drawing game using his interests.

- trial him with different pencil grips, there are lots and he may have a preference

- we use a Handiwriter - an elastic that goes over the wrist and holds the pen in place

- we also use felt pens as less pressure is needed than with pencil

- our ds is an arm writer - so all control comes from shoulder so our main focus is getting the pad of his hand down - writing whilst lying down on tummy forces the arm/hand down - we bought an Aqua Draw as this goes on the floor and good fun. We also de-sentisize his hand first in case he doesn't like to feel of of hand down. I suspect he doesn't mind but he likes the exercises anyway - gets him ready to write - little finger pulling exercises or get some sugar/salt in his palm and squirt some liquid soap, rub over his hand like a facial scrub and then rinse

- writing/drawing on an upright whiteboard

- writing on a small desktop whiteboard so mistakes can easily be rubbed out

If I think of anymore will post

 

Elaine

Edited June 10, 2006 by elainem

[Guest flutter]

how bout some write dance work?

the theory is ( and there are peeps on her who can do better, and please do) that kids need to do gross motor stuffs before they can make thier bods sit down and do fine motor, cos when u think of it drawin can be a hard one.

i would suggest that u open up the choices of meduim, give him a chalk board, give him big chalks and help him to chalk outside, finger paints? any thing that "makes mark" shopping lists,

http://www.luckyduck.co.uk/shop/products/1...4_5/viewProduct

werhe i work with littlies,

i have them " pretedending" to paint a wall first of all in lines then circles, then we put sprinklies on the wall.

when kids do proper write dance they work to music, with a flow going on, and stamp and all sorts, it is great fun, they use both hands.

ask at his school if they do this there?

 

Building Motor Skills

 

Research now tells us that motor skills?like running, jumping and throwing, as well as fine motor skills like drawing, writing, cutting, pasting and tying shoe laces?are more important than we ever thought. In fact, motor skills are the foundation for much of a child?s early learning. For instance, there is a relationship between gross motor skills and learning to read. And, fine motor skills are needed before a child can learn to write. This booklet suggests simple, fun activities parents can use to help their preschool children develop and practice the basic motor skills they will need to be successful in school. Stock #353A (Spanish 453A) Mix & Match Pricing

this came form a book sold here

http://www.par-inst.com/educator/products/booklets/ready.php

good luck

[LizK]

My 4.5 year struggles using with drawing and is not very keen at all. Don't want to force the issue as he's still very young but we've been given some suggestions

 

- use triangular pen grips or chunky felt tips

- use other media so let him draw with his fingers in sand, cornflour gloop, shaving foam smeared over a tray. The latter is popular with him, cheap and not as messy as I thought! He also likes drawing on the white board at school

- back chain so you draw most of an object and let him do the last bit like put the eyes on a face or the door on a house so gets a sense of completion

- get big sheets of paper and draw roads and train tracks and let him fill in some of the lines

- my son likes those wipeable books where you draw over the dotted lines and clean off

 

HTH

 

Lx

[forbsay]

Hi Eva

 

My asd son is 6. He goes to a special school for asd kids. We got him to start drawing etc by buying a etchasketch (maybe the wrong spelling but hopefully you will know what i mean). We used to draw things on this that he liked and he has started to do his own drawings (depending on his mood of course). He has just about finished his first year at special school and is starting to write his name and letters of the alphabet - i would never have believe this if someone told me last year that he would be doing that now.

 

Take care

 

Forbsay

[Eva]

Thanks for all your fantastic ideas! They're great. I'm going to get a slope board and some pen grips to start off with and try and find a Handiwriter. I think Joe might like the idea of lying on his tummy to draw - we'll do some back chaining, definately will give that a go.

 

Elainem,what is the programme Handwriting without Tears? Is it a computer-based one or a course you went to?

 

Flutter you're so right about the gross motor skills. Joe finds it really hard to sit still on a chair, (unless he's absorbed in a task), he swings back on them all the time and fidgets. The OT said to do excercises before he sits down to a task.

 

Thanks once again everyone - now all I have to do is motivate ds to actually do some of these things! He's very resistant to doing this sort of thing at home.

 

Cheers,

Eva