Fine motor skills - confused | Autism PDD

Hi bevvy! I agree that Ot could help. My ds has problems with fine motor strenght in my opinion. He is strong with his hands and arms, but certain thins fine motor wise, his fingers are like limo noodles. Goodluck with it. It is a struggle for my ds too.

My youngest son is almost 6, and he is still having trouble with this. We don't have the luxury of an OT consult here either.

We had a breakthrough when I had him play with Lite Brite, and said that the way he holds the tiny lite brite piece was the way he should hold his pencil.

We had a further breakthrough when I found a way to explain the grip to him (inspired by something I read somewhere).

First I showed him how I make a "lobster claw" with my thumb and forefinger, and "pinch" the pencil. Then I showed him how I "trap" the pencil and keep it from moving with my middle finger.

Then I had him try. He caught on pretty quickly, so I could just remind him to "make a lobster claw, pinch it and trap it" every time he picked up his pencil while doing homework.

Here's a topic on our forum with lots of tips for promoting a good pencil grip.

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13418&am p;am p;am p;KW=handwriting - lots of good tips on our forum, including pencil grips, handwriting-readiness activities, review of Handwriting Without Tears program, etc.

Good luck with everything.

Boys have worse fine motor skills than girls, and I'm talking about NT kids. In fact, men have poorer fine motor skills than women -- that is why women eventually took over the secretarial field from when once the typewriter became common in the late 1800's and why telephone linemen are mostly linewomen now that tiny fiberoptics are the name of the game. So having fine motor delays is common among boys in general and almost universal with ASD kids. And OT can explain why pencils are different from legos. For one thing, the motivation might be different. But my guess is that the muscle requirement for holding a pencil grip and using is is more complex than pushing two plastic pieces together. Ask the OT for the real answer.[QUOTE=NorwayMom]

We had a breakthrough when I had him play with Lite Brite, and said that the way he holds the tiny lite brite piece was the way he should hold his pencil.

[/QUOTE] That's a great tip. The OT that I work with suggests breaking all your child's crayons and chalk pieces. They're forced to use a better grip with a small piece of crayon. They can't fist it. Also, using an easel promotes a better grip, because it's awkward to do it any other way.I would get an eval through the school district ASAP for OT/fine motor skills. If you aren't satisfied - get a private one if your insurance covers it. I believe it's around 4 1/2 that they start getting concerned if the grip isn't right. Actually, it might be earlier. They started working with this right away when my son entered ECSE at age 4 that September. He now knows how to hold it and he finally holds it with enough strength to make the letters dark enough to read.I don't know the answer...but have a small question related to this too.

What is the "normal" time frame for them to stop holding their pencil with a closed fist and hold it properly?maybe it's processing... Has to be something about the process of holding a pen that is just harder for him than building with lego.

I am having confusion about Sharlet's motor skills too. I'm pretty much convinced that there is a whole lot that nobody really knows when it comes to motor deficits and autism.

I am confused about fine motor skills. My son who is 4 (and suspected Aspergers) just cannot grip a pencil at all - he kind of holds it upside down and the wrong way round and he gets really frustrated if i try and show him how to do it 'properly'. I figure that this is poor fine motor skills. However he is excellent at building with tiny pieces of lego and similiar fiddley things. So is that fine motor skills too??

How can he be great at one and not the other??

Any ideas?

Thanks