OT ideas for Dsypraxia?

[tex-mex]

Hi,
14 y.o. son has mild dsypraxia -- cannot ride a bike, tie his shoes, cut eggo waffles or pancakes without being fatigued, and so on. He has come a long way and can now go up and down stairs. His handwriting is still a big issue. But I'm proud of him!

Other than hiring an OT -- what are some simple exercises he can do at home to strengthen and develop these fine/large motor tasks? The cutting with a knife and fork -- and opening the safety seal for a Sunny D bottle come to mind. :confused:
Thanks in Advance!

[LizzyBee]

My dd's OT and I were just discussing this today. Some of her suggestions include taking a travel size tube of toothpaste (or something similar) and opening and closing the cap with just the thumb and index finger while holding the tube with the other 3 fingers; spraying water from a bottle with a pump; heavy work such as carrying groceries; and resistance exercises such as pushing against the wall. She had my dd try writing on a slant board, and it made an amazing difference in how much effort dd had to use, so I'll be buying one of those to use at home.

[tex-mex]

My dd's OT and I were just discussing this today. Some of her suggestions include taking a travel size tube of toothpaste (or something similar) and opening and closing the cap with just the thumb and index finger while holding the tube with the other 3 fingers; spraying water from a bottle with a pump; heavy work such as carrying groceries; and resistance exercises such as pushing against the wall. She had my dd try writing on a slant board, and it made an amazing difference in how much effort dd had to use, so I'll be buying one of those to use at home.

Great ideas! :)
We just began the groceries thing -a few months ago- we live in a apt complex and have to carry bags up a flight of stairs. Son helps and now I know this can be OT exercise? ;) Cool!

Love the toothpaste idea! I remember the slant board -- never thought to use it. (duh me. lol) And will use the resistance exercise against the wall! THANKS!!!

[Laura Corin]

Swimming and Taekwondo have made an enormous difference to Calvin.

Laura

[Dobela]

Clay and playdoh will help strengthen fingers and hands. You can 'bury' smaller objects in them and have him dig them out using only his fingertips. My son's OT also had us buy nuts and bolts in a variety of sizes, down to really tiny, and have him spend time putting them on and off each day. In addition he was told to use tweezers to move objects, like BBs from one container to another. Remember those handheld things you squeeze? Can't think of the name but he also was told to squeeze them often. We used the balls and those gripper things like 2 handles with a spring in the middle. If you have a scooterboard, or a large board with wheels on the bottom, you can have him lay on it then using his hands and arms only move himself forward. Pushups also helped my son strengthen arms.

[Jan in SC]

My son is in OT, but tennis has been wonderful for him.

[mom2jjka]

My DD has apraxia and these are some of the fine-motor exercises she does at OT:

Stringing beads, lacing cards, eating with chopsticks, picking up pompons with tweezers, doing puzzles, drawing, painting, playdoh, using scissors

[az_momy]

Wheelbarrow walking, building core muscles by sitting on a therapy ball, going down a slide on his belly to strengthen back and belly muscles...
http://www.henryot.com/gallery.asp

We got some large tweezers (from a supplier of science materials or www.restorationhardware.com (http://www.restorationhardware.com)) for my son to pick up cotton balls with, working down to smaller objects. Maybe kitchen tongs would work for this?

We also purchased from www.henryot.com (http://www.henryot.com) , a book which came with specially-colored shoelaces to teach him how to tie his shoes.

At this page, I would suggest reading the paragraph titled "Impaired Bilateral Motor Coordination" http://www.henryot.com/news/sensory_diet_applications_review.asp
Ms. Henry suggests working on bilateral abilities to be able to tie shoes and further down the page gives applications.

Blessings to you on this journey!

[betty]

Even if you do begin OT, you should develop a fitness program. When my ds was little he did gymnastics 2x/week and swimming 2x/week. Later he dropped those sports and did tae kwon do 3-5x/week.

For fine motor skills it is important to build/work the larger muscles from the core through the shoulders. If he does not have a strong upper body, he cannot maintain the posture needed for fine motor skills.

My son is 15 now. He continues to work out at the local Y a couple times a week.