OT Screenings Within the School Setting

Having been observing and completing my professional rotation within a school district for the past five weeks, I have come to understand the occupational therapy screening process and how it varies for each child.  The school based setting truly has an inter-professional approach, as all members of the team including teachers, para-professionals, administrators, therapists, and parents all work together to identify and address the needs of each child.  Often times, the occupational therapist is not the first person to notice that a child is struggling to keep up in the classroom.  Within this particular school district, another member of the team who is with the child daily generally informs the OT about the child's areas of concern.  The OT then pushes into the classroom to perform an informal screening of the child and takes notes.  

During the screening process, the OT attempts to observe the child within his/her natural environment without overtly interfering or prompting.  In the school based setting, the OT can only address deficits which affect the child's ability to participate in educationally relevant activities. A few examples may include: bilateral hand coordination, attention, sensory-processing and regulation, self-help skills (washing hands, using restroom, clothing fasteners, tying shoes), and fine motor control (scissor skills, pasting, handwriting, opening containers). If the OT determines that the child would benefit from a full OT evaluation, then he/she reports back to the team.  The parents are then notified and a doctor's prescription for an OT evaluation is requested. Occupational therapists must have a current physician's prescription on file in order to evaluate or treat a child within the school setting. 

Look for a future post with more details on what an OT evaluation within the school district entails. 

Handwriting Without Tears Materials & Certification

Good news! I recently completed all of the prerequisite requirements for the Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) Level 1 Certification.  This certification will allow me to be registered on the HWT website as a handwriting specialist.  I am just a packet of paperwork away from being officially certified. I attended workshops about the following topics: Pre-K Readiness and Writing, K-5 Handwriting, and Handwriting Assessment.  During these workshops, I learned all about Handwriting Without Tears assessment tools, remediation approaches, and intervention ideas. Below are some pictures of all of the great materials I was able to take home with me! :-)

To learn more about HWT Level 1 certification requirements, please visit the following website:
http://www.hwtcertification.com/certification_requirements.html

I also signed up to be a Handwriting Without Tears advocate, which enables me to spread the word about this awesome curriculum and provides me with access to lots of great HWT resources. Here is a link to a variety of power point presentations and in-service handouts with lots of great information on HWT: http://www.hwtears.com/advocate/introduction

I am glad that I will have the opportunity to pass along the knowledge I have gained about HWT to parents, teachers, and other occupational therapists in my area. Please message me with any questions or to share the ways in which you have used the HWT curriculum with your student(s).  I would love to hear about your experiences.

Group Ideas

Fine Motor Activity for Pre-K Group: In a small group, each child first rolled a large dice to determine which color pom poms to retrieve.  Next, the child was asked to cup his/her hand to hold and roll a small dice (facilitating formation of those palmar arches) to determine the number of pom poms that he/she would retrieve.  For example, if the child rolled "green" and "5", then they were expected to retrieve 5 green pom poms and place them into a container using small tongs.  The goal of this activity was to promote proper use of a tripod grasp and to strengthen the muscles necessary for writing.  Through completion of this activity, the Pre-K students also worked on their ability to listen, take turns, and follow directions.

Retrieved from: https://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/5412333/il_fullxfull.250528144.jpg

                                      

Cut & Paste Crafts for Middle School Group: Below you will find pictures of the two crafts that we recently implemented with a group of middle school students.  The main goal of this activity was to work on independently following written directions, although fine motor control and visual-spatial skills were also addressed.

Handwriting Without Tears Intervention Examples

Retrieved from schoolhousereviewcrew.com

As part of my professional rotation, I have chosen to pursue multiple certifications in Handwriting Without Tears (HWT).  This handwriting instruction program focuses on using a multi-sensory and developmentally appropriate approach to handwriting acquisition. So far, I have obtained certification in the Pre-K Readiness & Writing Workshop and the K-5 Handwriting Workshop.  The following intervention ideas were discussed at these workshops.  I was also able to observe the implementation of these activities by an occupational therapist in the school setting.

Mat Man: Mat Man is designed to teach body awareness and the spatial orientation of body parts in regards to one another.  Studies have shown that with the use of Mat Man, children were more aware of body parts and their spatial relationships to one another as demonstrated through drawings (Handwriting Without Tears, 2007).

Photo Reference: Handwriting Without Tears. (2007).  Mat man teaches children to draw. Retrieved from http://www.hwtears.com/hwt/why-it-works/research

Building Mat Man on a Budget: Although the entire Mat Man kit is available for purchase at the following link: http://shopping.hwtears.com/category/Mat_Man, it is great to have a way to build Mat Man without great expense.  Once you have the Wood Pieces Set for Capital Letters and the Mat for Wood Pieces (which both are included in the Pre-K Handwriting Certification Course), then the eyes, nose, hair, and belly button seen in the following picture can be made out of cotton balls or laminated construction paper.

Example of Using HWT Manipulatives for Letter Formation: I was able to observe an OT use the HWT tools to progress a child developmentally through the process of learning letters.

1. First, a model of the letter was provided using the wooden pieces and the associated terminology. (In this case, the therapist said, "Big line down, frog jump up, and big curve" when making the letter "D"). 
2. Then, the child was asked to build the letter using the wooden pieces while saying the same terms. 
3. Eventually, the model was removed and the child was asked to create the letter with the wooden pieces. 
4. The child was then asked to draw the letter.  
5. If the child did not retain knowledge of that letter during the next session, then the lesson was repeated.  When a child demonstrates memory of that letter, then more letters may be introduced. 

HWT Worksheets: Here is an example of  a worksheet reviewing the frog jump capital letters.  Notice the small dots indicating the proper place to start each letter (at the top!).  HWT also provides two lines to assist with proper spacing and letter formation.  This worksheet was completed by a typically developing 6 year old. 

All non-referenced photos were taken independently using purchased HWT materials for examples.

For more information about Mat Man or the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum, visit www.hwtears.com or www.getsetforschool.com. 

Stay tuned for more student examples and HWT intervention ideas in the weeks to come :-)