Is This Something That Needs Assessed?

[NoMoreJuice!]

I have a dcb, age 3, who puzzles me. He is very behind his peers on many levels, but I'm concerned specifically about his fingers. When we wash hands, his fingers are stiff as a board and he won't curl them around like most kids to wash his entire hand. He just rubs his palms together, and then rubs the backs of his hands with his palms. During preschool, he colors only by gripping the crayon/marker/etc in a death grip with his fist, and as many times as I correct his grip, he just can't grasp the concept. Also with scissors, his fingers stay straight as a board and he can't grasp the scissors.

My question is: has anyone seen this before in kiddos his age? I can't get him to relax his fingers for any task, even petting our guinea pigs. I know he can grip toys and other things normally, but as for the rest of it...does he need assessed by a professional? If so, what kind? OT?

Thank you all for any wisdom you can pass on!

[spedmommy4]

What you are describing would concern me as well. If you have a good relationship with mom, you can share your concerns with her. As for assesment, there are a few options. You can advise her to see her pediatrician and share her concerns. They may refer the child for a developmental assessment, an OT assessment, or a neurological assessment. If mom can bring a video clip of what she is seeing, that is helpful for the pediatrician.
For the developmental concerns, an assessment by the local school district is also an option. The assesment is free and, if he qualifies, he would get free services to promote his development. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

[mamamanda]

I have a 4 y.o. still struggling with this. If mom is open to it, yes id have him assessed for o.t. Anything you can do to strengthen fine motor skills is a plus. Lots of playdoh, teach him to spin a top, lacing cards, string cheerios on spaghetti, practice ripping paper into small pieces, etc.

[Snowmom]

I have a boy like that here. I've had him since he was 15 months, he's now 5 yrs old and it has now just started to change.

He's a very pent up, anxious little man. Always held his hands in fists, washed his hands exactly as you described, held crayons/pencils in a fist. He also ****ed his thumb all the time (still does).
His parents never wanted to address it. :confused:

Hopefully, the parents are willing to discuss or attempt to work on it with you.
Last year, I finally started having my dcb do our writing projects with a pencil grip specifically designed to hold the pencil with his two finger tips.
That has helped tremendously.