[mhugs]

I have a student who did not display hand dominance as a baby/toddler/preschooler. He has excellent gross motor skills and body strength. He has difficulty forming letters and has a strange pencil grasp. He uses his right hand now. The child also broke his arm this summer and was in a cast from arm pit to fingers most of the summer. Written work brings tears and frustration.

He also has a history of hearing loss and has numerous ear infections as a baby/toddler. He has had two sets of bilateral tubes. Reading is also a struggle and he is falling behind his class. We will have to refer to local district for testing.

I guess my question is would you refer for testing now or wait until after the holidays to see if their is improvement?

[fredflintston]

Do it now. If he is that frustrated then he needs help. Anyway if your process is anything like ours the testing will likely not occur until after the holidays anyway. NYS policy is that an eval needs to be completed within 30 work days of receiving the referral. Many times it's that long before they squeeze it in. If the cast was on wrong or caused muscle weakness in his intrinisic muscles (the muscles that make fine motor movements fine) then he will need therapy to get them back where they need to be.

[chalk_talk]

This little guy needs someone to advocate for him. It takes forever (60 days) in our area for assessment. Then, it ususally takes a while before the plan is written up. Did he have PT after the cast was removed? In the meantime, maybe someone can "scribe" for him...write down what he says, modify his work so he only needs to do limited writing, have him work with a peer, tape record his answers, etc.
Good luck!

[mreinelt]

I agree the sooner the better....By the way, it is federal law that upon signiture of parent the team has 60 school days to complete the assessment. In the mean time get ahold of handwriting without tears and start having him work through it. An amazing program that many OT uses.