Neurology has published research on a small study consisting of 24 adolescents, half with autism and half without autism. Using the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment Test, intelligence test and Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle (Motor) Signs (PANESS), the researchers found that the adolescents with autism showed worse overall scores on handwriting just like younger children with autism exhibit. In addition, it was found that the perceptual reasoning skills were significantly predictive of handwriting skills where motor skills were not. One of the researchers, Dr. Bastian states:
“Our research suggests that adolescents with autism may be able to learn and utilize compensatory strategies that involve reasoning skills to compensate for their motor impairments.”
Perceptual reasoning is the ability to reason and solve problems when non verbal material is presented. Just like OT’s offer environmental modifications for handwriting such as pencil grips remember to consider how the material to be written is presented. Try modifying the work to assist a student’s perceptual reasoning by changing the font type or size, reorganizing material or reducing visual distraction on the page to name a few.
Reference: Kennedy Krieger Institute. New Study Affirms Handwriting Problems Affect Children with Autism into the Teenage Years. Retrieved from the web on 11/17/2010 from http://www.kennedykrieger.org/kki_news.jsp?pid=9212
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology published a study comparing the gross motor skills of 6-9 year old children with speech and language problems (n=105) with typical developing children (n=105). Using the Test of Gross Motor Proficiency Edition 2, the children were evaluated in 4 groups: those with speech disorders, those with language disorders, those with both and typically developing peers. The results indicated that all three subgroups with speech and language disorders scored lower on the locomotor and object control portions of the test. The scores on the test improved with age for the children with speech and language disorders but the scores were still behind their typically developing peers. The researchers recommend early diagnosis and intervention for children with speech and language disorders.
Reference: CHRIS VISSCHER et al Motor proficiency of 6- to 9-year-old children with speech and language problems Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology Volume 52, Issue 11, pages e254–e258, November 2010
Here is a free Thanksgiving activity to print and create. Laminate the play mat. Using wipe off markers, draw a path for the turkey to get to the table. Make matching letter clothes pins for Happy Thanksgiving. Pinch open the clothes pin and attach to the matching letter on the play mat. Get the free printable here.
Zaner-Bloser is hosting a national handwriting contest where your school can win prizes totaling $100,000. The students who enter the contest must be Zaner-Bloser handwriting users only. This would be a great idea to promote legible handwriting in your school district. Go to their website to view all the details at Zaner-Bloser.
If your students do not use Zaner-Bloser why not run a contest anyway. You could give prizes for shape, slanting, spacing and size for print and manuscript. You could have them rewrite sample sentences and answer a question as to why legible handwriting is important. Maybe the sample sentences could be facts as to why legible handwriting is important. The contest would hopefully get teachers and students excited about learning proper handwriting. Give prizes to individual students and to teachers who have the most entries from their class. The prizes could be as simple as a certificate, ribbon or classroom supplies. You could always ask parents to donate a few prizes as well. Have fun promoting handwriting!
“identify: (a) effective physical therapy procedural interventions that lead to positive outcomes for children (3-21 years) with disabilities in schools; and (b) gaps in the evidence and areas requiring further research”.
There is a new free application called Create and Convert. It can take any editable document and make it accessible. For example, it can take a Word document and convert it to a talking book. For some documents you can enlarge the font, change the background color and even convert to Braille! Put it on a flash drive and it is ready to go. Did I mention it is FREE!!!! Check out this video tutorial below or go to Create and Convert. Scroll down on page to find Create and Convert.
Let’s face it growing up today is not the same as it used to be. The children in the United States are becoming less and less active. Many children today ride the bus to school, ride the bus home and play indoors (mostly television, video game and computer use). The extracurricular physical activities in a child’s life are mostly organized sports. Pediatric occupational and physical therapists can encourage physical activity as a leisure activity leading to a healthier lifestyle for all children.
To get started perhaps you can devise a long term physical activity goal. Each month have a child pick something to do that requires physical activity with their family. Perhaps it is taking a hike, walking the mall, free play outdoors, sledding… whatever is possible for the family and child to complete. Provide the children with a hand out regarding the importance of physical activity. Check out this APTA page – Smart Moves for Families.
For each monthly activity, have the child take a photograph, video or draw a picture of what the activity included. Each month have a sharing day at school where the kids can describe what physical activity they completed. This allows other students to share physical fitness ideas with the whole class to spark interest in others.
At the end of the year, give the children a prize who have completed 10 physical activity tasks. Make sure the prize also encourages a healthy lifestyle i.e. free pass to a roller skating rink, playground ball or jump rope.
Need to get some ideas to write letters of medical justification for adaptive equipment? Check out some of these websites to spark your letter writing:
Easystand – Offers a checklist of what to include in your letters.
LMN Builder – If you write many letters a year, this website is worth a look. It is free web tool for therapists to help write letters of medical necessity.
Many wheelchair vendors offer sample letters of medical necessity as well.
Here is an informative hand out from Vanderbilt University entitled “Teaching Your Child to Become Independent with Daily Routines”. It includes what to expect from children at different age levels with regards to self care skills and tips on encouraging independence in children including those with special needs. You can view it at http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/documents/teaching_routines.pdf or below.
Pediatrics published a review of the research on resistance training in children and adolescents. The researchers concluded that the ability to improve muscle strength increases with age and maturation without noticeable advancement noted during puberty. The duration of the study and the frequency of performed sets had a positive outcome on improving muscle strength.
Reference: Behringer, Michael, vom Heede, Andreas, Yue, Zengyuan, Mester, Joachim Effects of Resistance Training in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-analysis Pediatrics 2010 126: e1199-e1210
