Child's poor handwriting and hypermobility

[InsaneInTheMomBrain]

Does anyone have any advice on dealing with a child's poor handwriting and hypermobility of the finger joints?

For example whether to try to get referred to physiotherapy or similar?

Age ten, we've tried pencil grips etc. Pencil grip is so tight it looks painful, end joints of fingers are bent backwards / upwards.

I mean that we've tried the rubber pencil grips, and the way the child grips the pencil (with our without a pencil grip) is so tense the end joint of the fingers holding the pencil are bent backwards.

We are going down this same route, only three years behind you age wise.
Physio and OT seem to be best for adaptations.
Also if you have a SEN or inclusion team at your local council. They can give guidance.

Occupational therapy couldn't help with this issue, we saw them about sensory stuff. He has some dyspraxia, asd, ad/hd traits, we're on the waiting list.

Just wondering if anyone else who's experienced this has any tips that helped their child.

His fine motor control is pretty good when playing with lego and intricate build toys etc. Handwriting and drawing are very poor.

Good luck with your own journey butter

Ask for a referral to OT. Ds1's issues were picked up in infant school and he has progressed really well with OT support. DS1 wasn't as severe and it wasn't til seniors that he got referred. They did work with him, but also established he has dyspraxia as well as hypermobility and got him access to a laptop and extra time in exams. It's made a massive difference.

Laptop and extra time. Have him assessed by an EP; who can check his writing speed. My DS is similar.

Our OT saw my daughter when she was 8 and said it was too late to try and change the grip abs she was holding the pen that way to instinctively protect her joints (fingers over lapping each other).
One thing that work well was mechanical pencils, if she gripped and pushed down too hard the lead would snap, it taught her to use a lighter grip and not push so hard.

Just seen your update- bit rubbish that OT couldn't help. One of the things ours focused on was building muscle tone so things like rolling play dough. Because my boys have very unusual pencil grip- especially ds2- their muscles were weak and needed building up to improve their hand strength.

Agree get advice from an OT. In the meantime try getting him to hold something like a small pom pom in his hand and hold a pencil between thumb and fore finger at the same time. It used to work with my 4 and 5 year olds.

Ds had OT for same thing. Lots of games such as puzzles, logic, construction, playdoh, wet sand, water, threading beads etc to encourage fine motor skills, pincer grip and strengthen muscles. Gross motor skills with throwing and catching, climbing, pulleys, kicking ball, balance etc. Use of a slope for writing and seated with feet flat on floor and with good posture. Dyspraxia Foundation has suggestions for each age group and equipment. Also look into touchtyping and sports he can do alongside others such as climbing.

www.buckshealthcare.nhs.uk/cyp/pifs/pencil-grasp/

Thanks folks. As above, OT weren't able to help (they aren't seeing people in person).

I'll look into the dyspraxia foundation, thanks.

It's worth trying squidgy ball exercises. Get your child a stress ball and get them to squeeze it as hard as they can. Start with ten reps for each hand every day. This will help build strength in their hands and wrists. It's no substitute for seeing a physio (private if you can afford it) but it's a starting point.

Im not at all helpful here i dont think but one think sprung to mind.. double jointed?

Once again, im probably talking crap but ive known a few people with this and they seemed to have ASD traits and were very good at drawing and consentraying on fine details in their drawings..(which can be a pointer to asd)

We found a yoropen to be good, mine is younger and I'm hoping we can move into a laptop soon, we've been teaching him to touch type and school have been working on the handwriting.

Exercises with threaputty can help too.

That’s really rubbish of the OT tjough as it’s exactly what they should be helping with. Ds has a custom made Lycra glove which helps him massively when writing but the OT had to fight to get that funded

There is a strong link between hyper mobility and ASD. If you can afford a private assessment then do so. ASD can often look like dyspraxia, it did in my DS Laptop and extra time is what you need to aim for. We’ve been told that DS writing won’t improve.

Ds3 is (just) 12, autistic & dyslexic. He has a very uncomfortable looking pen grip and writing is very untidy.

He had a bit of OT and we used thera-putty with some success. I used to hide buttons in it for him to find.

Honestly, the best thing for him has been learning to type.

This doesn't specifically solve your problem. However in my class, chn with this issue used the computer to type. It boosted their confidence (and speed of getting work completed) no end. It was also considered acceptable in exams.

We got something similar to these for our child, who has similar problems. Her writing changed overnight, from messy and all over the place, to small, neat and on the lines of the page. Over the next year or so her writing got better and better. She doesn't need them anymore, but her writing is absolutely beautiful now. It was these grips that made that happen. Sorry for the long link. I don't know how to shorten them.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402924843483?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=7101533165274578&mkcid=2&itemid=402924843483&targetid=4585169652812020&device=m&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=412354547&mkgroupid=1305120599331881&rlsatarget=pla-4585169652812020&abcId=9300541&merchantid=87779&msclkid=5f0d377e12c01f46c5e756f4fc7c7f97

We are in same situation. We saw OT 2 years ago and they gave a list of exercises we could do to help and were Adamant we needed to do them then to stop delays later on,...well here we are later on and the issues are getting worse not better.

Theraputty - great for building up hand strength.
Adapted cutlery - it forces the hand into the correct position
We use stabilo pencils and pens - they are thicker and easier to hold
With hypermobility - look at the body position when writing - feet flat on floor, hips supported (sit on a stool if possible or use the wobble cushion type things) - if you watch when they write, you may well see they are using their shoulders instead of hands for all the actions so get into a position to support this. Angled writing boards might be of use.

Most of all.....laptop! Get them typing and used to typing and get school using typing to support longer writing activities. This is all prep for secondary now. They will never be good at writing by hand - embrace the tech support to stop it holding them back. Ensure they have extra time and/or a scribe for sats stuff

Also consider safety for cooking, design tech etc in school (and when in secondary)

Do they also have poor hand strength? Consider how they will cope with heavy doors, lockers, carrying bags etc at secondary and start making noises to transition and prep this now.

Really get into the biomechanics of loose ligaments in hands.

So each ligament in a joint is abit like an elastic band and when it gets to stretching point it gets tighter, this sends feedback to the body that the position is where it is and that you have hold of the item.

With loose ligaments - that stretch doesn't happen until a lot later, so the message to stop gripping isn't received until later. Hence they hold a pen really tightly or they appear clumsy and poor control.

Getting the child to understand this is key, they then learn to use other senses to feedback as well - especially sight.

Stabilo EASY pencils are supposed to be good

What really made a difference to my DD was upper body strength. We got a small climbing frame and she used it loads in the first lockdown and over the summer, when she went back to school her handwriting was transformed and she didn’t complain about it hurting any more.

@InsaneInTheMomBrain

Thanks folks. As above, OT weren't able to help (they aren't seeing people in person).

I'll look into the dyspraxia foundation, thanks.

Even if they cannot see you they may be able to provide a list of exercises and activities to try. Does he sit still, what has school suggested for the classroom ie. move n sit cushion, desk/chair, adapted pencils (elastic bands wrapped tightly wound can make a good grip) laptop?