OT/fine motor question...
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Anyone know what the expectations are for a 2.5 year old fine motor-wise?? We were told to persue an OT evaluation on Matthew just to be throrough a long with the Autism evaluation. Well I called Children's Hospital (the ONLY OT services that our insurance covers) and its 15-18 months waiting list!! The only OT evaluation I saw was Jason's at 3.5 and I am sure there's quite a difference from what they expect at the two ages. I do know Matthew does hold crayons/markers appropriately between thumb and fingers. He can draw/immitate a horizonal and vertical line as well as a circle but can't do a cross yet. He can lace beeds and build towers 10+ blocks tall. I've never given him scissors so I have no idea on that one. Does that sound about right for 2.5?? Just a suggestion. Have you (or are you) ever thought of Easter Seals? Services through early intervention are free to cheap through 3 years old and beyond if they qualify. At least in IL. We went through EI to get the ball rolling, then requested Easter Seals for OT and DT, and they referred me to a SLP. We just have a LOW monthly copay (income based) of $25, and that includes all of his services. Plus, Easter Seals had more ASD experience than anywhere else we looked and they even help the transition to school and attend IEP's. We got in super quick, too. Way before his Developmental Pede dxed him.Good luck, and if you have no option but to wait, I would suggest to journal ALL concerns that arise in the mean time. Hugs, Kristi I like to use this from the PBS parents website. It's good as a quick reference when trying to figure out where the avg. child might be. I always shoot high because I figure then my son will end up closer to where he needs to be.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopment/index.php?option =com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=47 Being able to do a cross is about a 3.5 to 4 year level. I don't think they expect a circle until age 3. My dd was a little behind in that as she wouldn't draw a circle that stopped when she was just 3. What I mean by that is she would draw a circle, but keep going around it - she wouldn't stop when she got to the beginning of the circle. I think your ds is doing GREAT - but it never hurts to get an eval if you're concerned. Yeah, I think he sounds good. Neither of my girls could do any of those things at that age, and now they're the best drawers in their class (not nearly so good at forming letters, though!). They also couldn't really use scissors until around 4.5, though I think they were delayed in that particular skill.Thanks for the replies!! He is in an early intervention program which is great for now... but the problem is he ages out in 6 months and even all the other OT providers around here are a good 3-6 month waitlists. I do have him on one of those waitlists as well (which we've been on for 3 months already) but once he ages out of early intervention we need our insurance to pay for OT services... that's why we need him at Children's ultimately!! I still can't believe how long that waitlist is for OT... it was shorter for the autism eval then for OT You can do both private/school services both. 1 is for educational benefit/the other is for daily life skills. I have met kids who get both. Our policy only covers 20 sessions a year for ot/st even with a ASD dx. Copays 30. each visit also. The Peabody which some use to eval motor skills states this: Fine Motor 25-30 months: Removes screw-on lid from bottle stack 8-10 cubes cuts paper in 1 place draws horizontal line bends paper producing a crease using 4 cubes, aligns 3 cubes and positions top cube on one end (I can't figure this one out.) strings 2-4 beads Fine Motor 31-35 Months builds a bridge of 3 blocks draws a circle builds wall of 4 blocks I rely on the milestones written by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which are on the CDC website. Hand and Finger Skills (24 months)
Hand and Finger Skills (36 months)
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/milestones_3years. html That really scares me now because Branden can't scribble with a crayon(only makes up and down lines, every once in a while side to side). He doesn't hold the crayon like a pencil, he puts a firm grip on it. He definiately can not make a circle, but I will see today what extent that is. He can not use a spoon and does a fork very strangely. He can turn a book in a page one by one if the book has really thick and sturdy pages. The other stuff I will have to test out today. I guess I need to help with that stuff as well. How do you help a kid aquire those skills?Fine motor activities for preschoolers: Sticker books Colorforms Felt board Chalkboard ( either using chalk or a small wet sponge, Qtips are great for this also) Qtip dot painting- take a regular coloring page and show child how to fill in spaces using dots with a qtip puzzles tearing paper ( show child how to tear paper using thumb and index finger) using a spray bottle filled with water helps build muscles in hands picking up cotton balls or other objects using tongs sqeezing an eyedropper with water in it. can be done in bath or on water table Finger puppets Are you involved in Early On?I would think the OT that works with that program can do an evaluation. You might also consider something thru your School district to do an assessment. They don't diagnose the Autism but they can do an evaluation independently. My son Gabe is speech impaired and when he was 3 (he wasn't enrolled in any Special Ed program) I was able to have the Speech Teacher at the Elementary work with Gabe in between students. She worked with Gabe and 1 other child his age with the same issues. It was no cost to me, she was paid thru the school district via our tax dollars. Something to think about.  |
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I am not overwelmingly concerned about his fine motor skills but I just wanted to make sure he was on par for a 29 month old. What all should he be able to do?? What do they test them for at that age?? 