To disagree with teacher that DD7 needs OT?

[SuperDuperC]

Based on her handwriting and being 'untidy'? Parents evening last week and teacher suggested that due to DDs posture, handwriting and being untidy she needs occupational therapy? I felt like the hand writing and pencil control is down to the gaps over the pandemic and that it will develop but I'm so worried I've missed something, teacher made it sound so serious and I've looked up OT and it'll close nearly £500 for sessions privately as public sessions have a 2 year waiting list.
Anyone with advise? Am I BU to disagree? Am I in denial? Or am I not BU as I know my daughter and that it will improve in time? 😩

Others have said what I’d echo, given your later responses. Get her on the path to an assessment, and if there’s nothing wrong, then there’s nothing lost, but if she does need some more help, she’ll be closer to getting it.

Thank you everyone, I didn't expect so much help and advice, I needed a jolt to accept this and I'll get onto today, thanks again 🙏🏻

Honestly, so much better to have things picked up young.

My DD's handwriting was so awful up to the age of about 10 was so awful and messy that the teacher refused to mark her work. She is a lefty so that doesnt help as she dragged her hand across her work.
She really tried hard and it neatened up a lot by secondary school

Last week she started her new job as an Occupational Therapist that goes into Primary schools

@bruffin

My DD's handwriting was so awful up to the age of about 10 was so awful and messy that the teacher refused to mark her work. She is a lefty so that doesnt help as she dragged her hand across her work. She really tried hard and it neatened up a lot by secondary school

Last week she started her new job as an Occupational Therapist that goes into Primary schools

well done to her x

can I suggest you get her eyes checked? if she cannot see well her handwriting will be affected & this might also affect the way she sits in her chair (aka getting closer to focus)
DD2 was dyspraxic & this affected her quite badly but in those days statementing was done with handwriting. DD handwriting was very large & awkward looking but was legible but she took long time to write. However, the comments written by the Me, awful handwriting caused by going to multiple schools who all had taught different handwriting styles, & the Senco small handwriting with several words that were totally illegible. DD In her teens at the time & I had a good laugh about that. I often wondered what the assessors at county thought!
OT helped DD a lot & was worth every penny but her dyspraxia affected her in many ways, quite severally. Is your dd cross lateral & how good is she at jigsaw puzzles?

severely doh!

@mumwon Oooh, I'm unsure if she's cross lateral (sorry 🤦🏻‍♀️) but is due an eye test, will book that too. Loves a jigsaw, will get some more actually!
Love the idea of your DD looking back and laughing, made me smile 😊

It turned out my DD needed glasses. We started doing daily exercises at home for fine motor skills and posture. An exercise ball to sit on whilst watching tv helped. Balancing on beams (thin planks of old wood), drawing and colouring in that type of thing and things really improved. I would get on the waiting list and start doing things at home and see how she improves in the meantime.

How does she hold her pen? Is it normal or does she avoid using her thumb to pinch?

I forgot!
My DD had/has Convergence insufficiency which we didnt know about until she was about 9 or 10 which also probably affected her writing.
She never said anything because she didnt realise that seeing double wasn't normal.
We took her for a eye test and they picked up on it and gave her pencil exercises to do.
A rought test is just get a pencil or pen, hold it arms length and bring slowly forward . You should see double about 6 to 10cm. DD was seeing double at 20cm.

@NOTANUM hi, she holds it quite awkwardly tbh

@MrsSqueeze

It turned out my DD needed glasses. We started doing daily exercises at home for fine motor skills and posture. An exercise ball to sit on whilst watching tv helped. Balancing on beams (thin planks of old wood), drawing and colouring in that type of thing and things really improved. I would get on the waiting list and start doing things at home and see how she improves in the meantime.

Thank you 🙏🏻

Please listen to her teacher. I'm a teacher myself but didn't pick up the signs of my DDs dyslexia because I obviously don't see her in a classroom over time. She was reading fine in 2 languages at home but her teacher saw that other things were off.

We are both very grateful for her teacher's long experience which meant she was diagnosed and got the help she needed early enough so she didn't get worn out over-compensating for years before diagnosis.

One of my teachers raised an issue with my parents about something similar with me when I was at primary school (back then, this stuff was rarely recognised) but another teacher then told my mum it was nothing that I was 'just clumsy and fidgety' and 'just needed to be told to sit up straight' so my mum decided there was no issue and nothing was done.

Fast forward to my 30s and I got diagnosed with dyspraxia. A bit of OT would probably have really helped me when I was a kid. My dyspraxia wasn't severe, but it did affect me and my confidence a lot and I would have benefited from some help.

I'm seeking a dyspraxia assessment for my son, with handwriting and fine motor skill issues. He's almost 8. I've had to (fight to) get a referral from the go, for the local o.t/paediatrics at hospital to assess him. Waiting for an appointment to come through but will go private if need be as it's affecting his overall progression at school work and life skills.

We got an OT assessment for our son due to the constant badgering from his teachers about his handwriting. She gave him exercises. They made him miserable and made no difference. In secondary they allowed him to use a laptop and they arranged for this to be allowed in his exams and they sane at college for his a levels. It was only at University that he was assessed properly and found to have dyslexia. There were no signs in his reading ability.

Messaging you @SuperDuperC

If she is holding the pencil awkward it could be she does need to work on fine motor skills,it can be her hand getting tired etc from holding pencil. Thinks like stacking coins,with one hand,hiding beads in playdough and getting it out,using xlothes pegs etc can all help.

Would defs see an ot. Also if there is a university near by with ot they often do role emerging into mainstream schools which would have her another step ahead.

Write from the start 24.99
Speed up 11.69
(Lois Addy)

But having tried desperately to get referral for none of my DC, if the school is backing it, then get onto GP or SENDCO and ask for a referral to OT list asap, even if it resolves itself in the meantime. Not all primaries will back a referral because money. So I would accept it with both hands.
I cannot afford private either.
I also hate that primaries force cursive - printed makes more sense for examiners and legibility and cursive is not a prerequisite at secondary anyway.

one, not none
above books on amazon

Is she hypermobile, clumsy, fine/gross motor skills? Your gp can refer for OT but you may have a wait.

I’m a children’s OT, definitely don’t pay £550 for one as you should be able to get an nhs assessment if it’s needed! You may have to wait a bit (will depend on the area) but in my service wait isn’t very long at all.

Teachers often focus on handwriting because it can form part of assessments in primary school, quite often when children are referred to us only for handwriting difficulties and with no other functional concerns it’s something such as reduced hand strength causing fatigue, joint laxity impacting on grip or like you say just needing extra practice. Depending on what the specific handwriting difficulties are and what underlies them there are plenty of handwriting programmes that can be done without OT input and usually through school. If her teacher has already tried putting some interventions in place and is suggesting a referral though it’s worth exploring one.

A few people mention DCD/dyspraxia and unless there are additional concerns we wouldn’t offer a DCD assessment but we would offer a handwriting/general fine motor assessment.

Sorry not RTFT, but this is one of the best online resources I've seen for DIY OT.

www.theottoolbox.com/

Please have good read through that website OP, you'll learn a lot and be able to help your DD with many challenges.

My postural control and writing is awful, and always has been. I wish I’d had help as a kid, it’s getting worse as an adult and casing all kinds of issues.

Even if it is just gaps, why wouldn’t you take help to catch up? It sounds a little like you are not wanting to accept that anything is ‘wrong’ with your child, which is totally understandable, but if your teacher has noticed, it’s probably something. You won’t do you child any favours by pretending she doesn’t need help because you can’t face her not being ‘normal’. You can support her to fulfil her potential by getting the right help for her. I’m trying to get my kid diagnosed with ND and am being told she can’t be, because she isn’t failing badly enough at school. So if school have noticed, you’ve either got a great school (so trust their judgement) or she really needs help.