DS (Y3) complaining that writing hurts

[redskyatnight]

DS has never liked writing - he was a slow starter due to not developing fine motor skills, and once he got going he really hated to do it. We backed off at home as it was causing huge fights and school told us he was doing ok in terms of progress - though normally the minimum required.

Now he is in Y3 there is a greater expectation to write more and also to consistently join. DS is now fairly regularly complaining that his hand hurts if he has to write a longer piece of work (fine with e.g. short answers to comprehension questions) and if he has to join more than a few words. At first I thought it was just a ploy to get out of writing, but am now wondering if it's more than that. His pencil grip looks ok to me (though I am obviously not a professional) - what else should I be looking at/helping with?

www.northumberlandcaretrust.nhs.uk/services/services-files/community-health-service-files/childrens-occupational-therapy/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Upper%20Limb.pdf

www.northumberlandcaretrust.nhs.uk/services/services-files/community-health-service-files/childrens-occupational-therapy/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Handwriting.pdf

he needs shoulder stability to write well otherwise he may suffer pain and tiredness

Is his general posture good when he sits?
Does he tilt the paper in line with his writing arm?
You say his pencil grip looks good, but is his hand position good too? Is he holding the pencil with the correct pressure or in a death grip? Is he pressing really hard when he writes?

If he has history of fine motor skill issues then I would suggest he may need to see an OT. ds struggled with handwriting partly due to hyperflexibiltiy , poor core stability and using his whole arm instead of isolating the movement to his hand/wrist plus dyspraxia. Exercises to work on the muscle groups in the hand and arm helped although he also learnt to touch type. Try him with a sloping surface which is slightly soft(ie side of a A4 file filled with paper) and make sure he is sitting properly, feet flat on the floor and perhasp experiment with different pencil grips although you may find that an elastic band wound round is as effective.

I would speak to the teacher first. And SENCO.
I did this and was told to go through the GP and ask for a referral to see a peadiatrician (but I had concerns about dyspraxia too due to falling over frequently as well as writing problems).

The appt came through in 6 weeks and the paed referred on to physio and OT. Though we don't actually get to see an OT, so the links from mrz will be at least as useful as you will get anyway - have a look at those and start fine motor exercises asap.

We also got a referall for a specialist teacher to observe in school. They diagnosed "specific learning difficulties in fine motor control, writing and spelling" and made lots of recommendations, including using an alphasmart in school, so I have been using Nessy Fingers to teach DS (nearly 8) touch typing.

Thank you for all the suggestions. We have parents' evening this week so I guess the first thing to do is raise it with the teacher (and have a follow on meeting if necessary). Any pointers as to how best to do that? DS likes Lego building (he will do it for hours ...) so I 've always assumed his fine motor skills were ok now - but possibly that uses different muscles (clueless emoticon).

Your ds sounds very similar to mine at that age. Mine was also fine wrt fine motor skills so for ages it was just passed off as 'laziness' and Y2 was hell on earth for him/us. Y3 is also when we started to feel more concerned and it was flagged more. The teacher was fantastic and we were referred to OT, who in turn were great with him.

There are a few practical exercises we do daily - at home and school. He has 'slight hypermobility' and it does hurt him to write for long periods. He has a pen to write with (most kids are just starting to use pens instead of pencils but ds has had his for a while now) as it's so much easier. He does push ups against the wall, like a standing up press up iykwim. He uses stress type ball thingys to strengthen grip. He has made great progress. I would push to see the OT. I know not everyone has positives to say about OT services, I think if a dc's issues are more complex they may not be the be all and end all for some, but for us, it's changed ds's school life. Good Luck.