United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I just need advice. My daughter almost 5 with ROBPI is trying to learn to write but really struggling. Her preschool teacher says she isn't ready to go to kindergarten next year. She will start to write with her affected side, then get frustrated I think and switch hands. I am just so worried about her and If I should be trying to force her to use her unaffected side. Just wanted any input. Thanks! Heather in GA

My son is also almost 5 and robpi. He's been writing with his left hand for a couple of years now. He would start with his right for a few minutes and then switch. Now he just uses his left. Maybe try handing her the pencil to her left and see what she does. Matthew started using his right to write with when his OT visited the preschool and used his left at all other times. He was doing it because LeeAnne always tells him to use his right hand for everything so he figured that was included to.

Making a decision to send or not send your child to kindergarten is a tough one. We were faced with that when our daughter was in preschool. The preschool teacher told us in January that she was the smartest kid in the class but wasn't socially ready because she only played with one girl in the class. I did a ton of research and spoke to a couple of specialists and I did not feel holding her back was the right decision. By the end of the school year her teacher told us she blossomed and recommended her for kindergarten with flying colors.

I highly suggest that you get an OT involved in the handwriting process. Ask for an OT who is a handwriting specialist. It can make a world of difference especiallly if she is trying to use the non-dominant hand. The early stage where they learn how to grip is most important for success. There are so many types of grips and tools that can be used to teach handwriting. Each grip works for a different area / problem.

The OT will be able to help you figure out if kindergarten is a reality and whether or not a different kind of kindergarten might work out better where she can get some OT help in the classroom. There may be options. Is she mature enough for kindergarten or is it just writing you are concerned about?

My son's writing in Pre shcool was aweful, I put him in Kindergarten anyway......the kindergarten teacher was putting him on the retention list in December, after the middle of January he jsut caught on and away he went. Now in second grade he has some of the best writing in his class. Gayle mom of Brandon ROBPI

Ok my son who will be 8 in april is robpi and use his left to do every thing it has made things harder for learing he stayed back in first grade but he is doing great this year ( oh he is right side dom) he had a hard time when he was younger learning to eat so he started useing is left hand (he could not bring the spoon in his right hand to his mouth) so i think he just started writing with that hand too

/One more thing, my son was a young kindergartner. He was just five when he started kindergarten.....He is born in July. I think this too is a disadvantage for him......being one of the youngest in his his class, but after kindergarten, it didn't seem to matter !
Gayle

Heather:
First off, yes, you need an ot on this one. Switching hands from dominant to non-dominant is not easy. There are obpi who write with their affected hand, but a lot depends on function in the hand (and whether you were forced to do so).

There are some excellent hand writing kits available. I think the best is Handwriting Without Tears. It has a manipulative portion that really gets the kids to "feel" where the letters go and what they look like. Plus there are books to use.

My daughter is 6 and in first grade. We started on handwriting when she was 4 (we knew she would have to switch sides). Her handwriting is still not fluid and she flips letters and numbers all the time. We are patient and encourage her to be patient. She is lucky to have a great first grade teacher, too. The ot in school is not my favorite, but at least there is extra practice there and any bigger writing assignments are done with the school ot.

As for moving forward to Kindergarten, we grappled with this as well. Our cut-off for age is December 1st. Juliana is born in November. She is one of the youngest kids in the grade. I worried about that. She is also about a head taller than everyone else. This complicated things for us--if we held her back then she'd be HUGE... But that was nothing compared to her lack of speech. Going into the 4's in nursery school she was still primarily non-verbal. She would answer a question directed at her, but only in a single word, and would never speak up on her own. In the 3's she had two friends. I had a long talk with the 4's teachers and told them to be honest with me about how she progresses. Under their tuteledge and with a different group of kids she started to blossom. By the middle of the year she had many more friends and was clearly ready for Kindergarten. She was still quite quiet, but she did speak. And she was bright and tried everything.

Although there are some problems in first grade-and her writing is one of them, she reads on a late 2nd grade level and does 2nd grade math. She is easily distracted, too. I can't decide (nor can her teacher) if that is age, all those years of one-on-one therapy, a focusing problem or a little bit of all of them! We just watch and wait.

good luck,
claudia