I am planning to start handwriting grinds for children with a learning disability in my own home.
I am happy to discuss with a parent/guardian prior to assessment if a child is ready to commence handwriting practice.
As a general rule if a child has adequate sitting balance (with adequate proximal stability and distal mobility) and they can copy a basic shape (generally a circle is easiest to achieve) they are ready to start.
There are four levels to my program, the “Write / Right Program “.
Level one is for children who are prewriters and grinds will concentrate on copying basic shapes (square, triangle etc).Level two is for children who are ready to practice capital letters only.
Level three is for children who are ready to practice small letters and joined writing.
Level four is for children who are ready to work on capital and small letters where appropriate .
Each child needs an individual assessment which will take less than an hour.
Grinds are individual generally lasting forty minutes each .If we have three children at the same level group grinds would be considered and group grinds last an hour .
I live in Clonskeagh in Dublin 14 and my available hours are Monday to friday 10 am to 1 pm or Saturday / Sunday afternoons.My room at home is equipped with platform/hammock and monkeybar swing which will be used as a reinforcer where appropriate.
Assessments cost €80 and individual grinds cost €40. Group grinds cost 90 euro for the group .
My mobile number is 0863398659 . Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further information
About Helen.
I qualified in 1987 and worked for the following fourteen years both in London and Dublin primarily in the areas of stroke rehabilitation ,neurology and community care . I have extensive experience with handwriting practice while I was working in these areas. I was on a leave of absence from St. Vincents Hospital ,where I had worked as a senior O.T. in Stroke Rehabilitation for many years , when my daughter was diagnosed with autism . I left my job in order get her the help she needed and in order to attend as many courses on autism as possible . Since that time I have attended many courses including the sensory integration level one , the theraputic listening ( Sheila Frick ) courses , biomedical intervention course and many other courses on applied behavior intervention . I have treated children over the years on an adhoc basis but I would like to now offer a service which combines my personal knowledge of autism and my many years of experience in the areas of physical rehabilitation . On a personal note when my own daughter learned how to write it opened up for her a whole new world and helped so much with her verbal communion , her reading ability and her connection to the world .
Irish Autism Action, as a national information service for families affected by autism, is circulating this item for information purposes only. Any follow up action by anybody in relation to this circulated information is entirely their own decision and they should not infer from our issue of the information that the content is being endorsed by Irish Autism Action.
