Fine motor skills, particularly handwriting- what OT's are known best for. At least in my experience working in a school setting!
I thought I would pay more attention to the fine motor skills that I will be highlighting in my activities for the month. These skills include; bilateral integration, hand dominance, in-hand manipulation, pincer grip, hand and finger strength.
Our fine motor skills help us to do activities and tasks that involve the use of our hand and smaller muscles of our hand. So we only really start to pick up our kids with fine motor difficulties when they start preschool or more formal schooling. Even though there are milestones that we can look out for, it is important to remember that kids still develop at their own pace. But, if you are concerned about your child’s fine motor skills, chat to your OT for advice. You can also look out for some of these behaviours which can indicate difficulties with fine motor skills:
Avoidance of fine motor activities. Side note: there are certain activities that may not be of interest to a child so please make this distinction before assuming that the child is avoiding it because they have difficulties.
Appear to be bossy while doing fine motor activities and order for things to be done for them.
Gives up easily when doing fine motor activities.
Wanting things to be done for them instead of doing it for themselves such as dressing
So when our kids are expected to write, cut and complete activities in the classroom that require the use of their hands, and they struggle- we need to intervene. Help them to get through the activities by building up their fine motor skills.
Let’s start with bilateral integration which is the coordinated use of both hands simultaneously, which is important when cutting or threading- any activity which requires the use of both hands. Bilateral integration ties in with hand dominance which is establishing a dominant hand for effective engagement in activity. Once you have established a dominant hand, the other hand is referred to as the supporting hand. The combined action of the dominant hand and supporting hand working together is what we term bilateral integration. Think about threading. Your dominant hand usually holds the thread and your non-dominant (supporting hand) holds the bead. The dominant hand completes the part of the action that requires more control.
In-hand manipulation refers to the ability to move objects in your hand using finger movements without the use of the other hand. This is a very important skill that is required for activities such as holding a pencil or utensil in your hand or holding a button to be placed in the hole. When children struggle with this, it may take longer for them to complete activities which may lead to frustration and avoidance when it comes to these types of activities. But, in order to do this effectively, our children need to have adequate hand and finger strength.
Hand and finger strength is a result of your shoulder strength and is vital for completing activities using hands. The more strength you have in your hands and fingers, the more control you have when completing activities that require the use of your hands- which makes this one of the key building blocks for fine motor skills.
Lastly, the pincer grip is a skill that requires the thumb and index finger to pinch together to pick an object up. This skill is very important for picking up smaller objects, holding a button to button up a shirt and tying shoelaces.
These are the main skills that I will be focusing on this month. Stay tuned to my Instagram and Facebook pages to find out more about activities 🙂
DISCLAIMER: The information shared above is based on current research and my own personal experiences. I do my best to share correct and relevant information with you. This is not to say that my view is the only view. As times are always changing, we need always be learning and keeping up to date with the latest research. I am merely sharing some basics and tips that can be done at home. If your child does have their own therapist, please check the tips with them to make it a collaborative approach to your child's development.