What to expect at your child’s Occupational Therapy assessment You’ve made the decision to have your child assessed by one of our Occupational Therapists at OneOnOne Children’s Therapy. For some parents at our Bondi Junction clinic and Mascot clinics, it is a relief to start the therapy process. Other parents feel quite anxious about the results of the occupational therapy assessment, and some parents feel overwhelmed with the journey they may be starting. It is normal to feel some or all of these emotions. Chances are that you don’t know what to expect in an Occupational Therapy assessment. Let’s go…
Is a pencil grip really that important? Does it matter if a child doesn’t hold their pencil correctly? The answer is ‘yes’ Handwriting is still a very important skill that impacts your child’s success at school. It takes time to develop a good pencil grip. Let’s hear what our Occupational Therapists in our Bondi Junction clinic have to say about handwriting and pencil grip. When children learn to hold their pencil properly while they’re young, their handwriting will be efficient, effortless and they can write for a longer period of time. If children have the wrong pencil grip when they start…
What are fine motor skills? Fine motor skills are the co-ordinated movements of the small muscle in the fingers, hands and arms. Fine motor skills also include hand-eye coordination. This is when you use your vision to help you control the movements that you are making with these small muscles. The development of fine motor skills is a specialty area for an Occupational Therapist. Fine motor skills are crucial for toddlers and pre-schoolers. It leads to many other skills. Firstly, fine motor skills allow children to play with toys. Playing with toys leads to language development, cognitive development and social…
Why is reading and spelling in English so hard? Many beginning readers and poor readers never learn the skills and knowledge to successfully read or spell. Unlike talking, reading isn’t something you learn to do by copying other people around you. Reading needs to be explicitly and systematically taught. It is very challenging for students to read and spell, because English is so inconsistent. Good quality phonics teaching, like Sounds Write, involves learning the sounds that go with the letters; but it also involves learning how the spelling system relates to the sounds of the language. This is where the…
What is a pincer grasp? A pincer grasp is a developmental milestone which allows a child to pick up small objects with their thumb and forefinger. It normally develops between the ages of 9-12 months. What happens if children don’t have a good pincer grasp? Children who have an immature grasp will find it difficult to play with small toys such as blocks and beads. They may also struggle to independently complete self care tasks such as dressing (clasping buttons, zips and laces) and eating with cutlery. It will also effect their fine motor development in the lead up to…