Is finger dexterity an OT thing?
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| Mon, 12-11-2006 - 11:39pm |
Just lately, Henry has been interested in learning to tie shoes, so we've been working on it a little. He just seems unable to make and hold a loop which is part of shoe-tying. He almost never eats with a fork. He just picks up everything with his fingers. He is getting better at using a spoon but he still needs to use his other hand to place the food on the spoon and then to block the food from falling off the spoon.
Tonight, at Scouts, the leaders taught the boys how to play marbles. Henry was the only one who could not hold the marble in the crook of his pointer finger and thump it with his thumb. Actually, now that I'm making that motion with my hand, it is a little awkward.
Henry had trouble cutting with scissors in preschool, but my mom and I worked with him on that quite a bit, and he got pretty good. His handwriting is fine.
So--are there some sort of "exercises" we could do to work on getting Henry's hands and fingers more coordinated? Would that be part of Occupational Therapy? If he could get OT, what would they do that would help him with these kind of issues? (So that I can do them with him at home.)
He also has trouble with zippers, buttons, belt buckles.
Thanks!

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Hi!
Henry doesn't get any therapy through our insurance, because he hasn't been "officially" diagnosed. I asked the school for testing, but they decided that they weren't going to do it since he is at or above grade level academically.
I'm just trying to do the best I can with him for now.
I was considering getting him a game very similar to Battleship but with Dinosaur Bones instead of ships. Today, I got a letter in the mail from an online company from which I ordered giant dominoes stating that they were out of stock--3 weeks after I ordered them online. So I may get that game (or just regular Battleship) instead of that present.
Henry is 6 1/2, btw.
Well, I must admit that Light Bright, Lite Brite, however they spell it is 100% not allowed in my house. Ever.
When I was a teenager, I babysat two preschoolers who spent the majority of the time throwing the pegs at me. And when I was attempting to stop them, their dog chewed a hole in my suede coat.
Some well-meaning family friends bought a small travel Lite Brite for Henry when he was 3 or 4. He still puts things in his mouth now, so it was too choke-y for him at the time. When I did let him play with it, he decided to play the game of throwing all the pegs over the back of the couch and into the entryway. So I got rid of it.
I just found a stray peg from it in Mark's room the other day.
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