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Help! We are asking for our 8 year old son to get Occupational Therapy from CMS for our son with significant handwriting difficulties. He was evaluated this summer and the psychologist who did the eval wrote that he has a disability in writing. The school psychologist says that CMS won't allow OT for children if they can hold a pencil, that CMS is extremely restrictive. We are trying to find out what other schools are saying. If you or anyone you know has been able to get OT in a CMS school for handwriting problems, will you let me know?
Is your son served under EC with an IEP? If not, then he can't get services. However, if he is... I would contact the lead OT for CMS in the EC dept. and inquire about that possibility.
Just to be clear, is he unable to write legibly or does he have a problem writing coherently? A writing disability in psychologist terms usually does not mean trouble in the mechanics of holding pencil and forming letters, it means trouble in organizing thoughts coherently on paper.
Did you ask the psychologist for a recommendation for a private therapist?
When my son was three, he was evaluated at the preschool by a CMS speech therapist, who said he may have trouble with "L's" later due to an attached frenulum. Although developmentally he was not behind for a three-year-old.
I took him to a private speech therapist who had him speaking perfectly within a year.
Don't wait on a bureaucracy if you feel your child needs the help. It will only frustrate you.
Thanks for the responses so far. Just to clarify a few things:
He has handwriting issues and organizing issues. Basically, testing found that his verbal IQ is in the superior range, but his written expression scored in the 30th percentile, which fits the definition of a learning disability. In addition, when he writes his letter formation is terrible (though legible), he doesn't stay on the line, his spelling and punctuation are awful, so his writing mechanics score is in the 30th percentile range too.
We have done private OT before, also vision therapy. Both help, but progress is very slow. Right now he is so exhausted after the school day that it is not helpful to subject him to more OT in the afternoon. The psychologist who did the outside evaluation recommended that we pursue getting OT through the school system. He thought that was reasonable given the learning disability and the fact that it causes him a huge amount of anxiety and stress at school, thus impacting his education. That is why we are gathering information and trying to get him an IEP or at the very least a 504 plan with OT services.
You can't get OT with a 504. Related services are only for IEP's. Have you ever used the handwriting without tears program? Some OT's use it and love it. I have heard about vision therapy and witnessed extreme improvements in one child with it. However, NC does not recognize that as a disability right now and most insurance does not cover from what I hear.
My son had OT for about 4 years. I had to FIGHT to keep him in it, for the reasons you are having yours getting in at all.
Mainly, you need to show that his fine motor delays (call it this, not handwriting issues...that will help some) are impacting him educationally.
Start recording how long homework is taking. Ask him if he is getting frustrated IN call when he has written work. Document these things and push for another evaluation AND meeting.
The other true KEY is to get your pediatrician to put in writing that your son suffers from a fine motor skills delay (try and find ANYTHING else he really struggles with, like tying shoes, buttoning buttons, etc.).
This should get you started. Once you get a 504 to address fine motor delays (in this meeting ask not just for OT, but for additional testing time for EOGs when writing is required, the option to type assignmetns when needed, etc.) it is much harder for them to kick you out...they know this, which is why they do not in some cases like to grant OT and a 504. If they choose to release you from OT, you can tell them that you will appeal. This buys you a full additional year before they can stop the service. Remember this if you are able to get the service. Good luck to you.
Help! We are asking for our 8 year old son to get Occupational Therapy from CMS for our son with significant handwriting difficulties. He was evaluated this summer and the psychologist who did the eval wrote that he has a disability in writing. The school psychologist says that CMS won't allow OT for children if they can hold a pencil, that CMS is extremely restrictive. We are trying to find out what other schools are saying. If you or anyone you know has been able to get OT in a CMS school for handwriting problems, will you let me know?
Theresa
My wife is an Occupational Therapist and a licensed Handwriting Without Tears instructor. I am pretty sure her current caseload is full, but I will ask her to see if she or anyone she knows may be able to assist you.
This forum is such a great place to get information!
Thank you Taben, for your excellent advice on documenting exactly how his fine motor skills issues impact his education. I am working on writing up some things now.
therock5156, I would love any recommendations for someone who could work with my son on his handwriting issues and his struggles with the whole writing process. If your wife has a recommendation, please send it to me. If anyone else knows of someone, please send that to me too. We live in south Charlotte but can travel some for the right person.
We have sent the school a letter requesting a meeting with the intent of getting an IEP for our son. I will also starting helping in the classroom this week and will be able to observe how he is doing. Right now he is incredibly anxious and struggling, but I am optimistic that we can turn things around and help him have a good school year.
This forum is such a great place to get information!
Thank you Taben, for your excellent advice on documenting exactly how his fine motor skills issues impact his education. I am working on writing up some things now.
therock5156, I would love any recommendations for someone who could work with my son on his handwriting issues and his struggles with the whole writing process. If your wife has a recommendation, please send it to me. If anyone else knows of someone, please send that to me too. We live in south Charlotte but can travel some for the right person.
We have sent the school a letter requesting a meeting with the intent of getting an IEP for our son. I will also starting helping in the classroom this week and will be able to observe how he is doing. Right now he is incredibly anxious and struggling, but I am optimistic that we can turn things around and help him have a good school year.
I will talk to her a little later and see if she has any recommendations for you.
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We had OT in CMS
