KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Hi,

Need advice on how to improve my son's writing difficulty. He seems to have difficulty about the spacing between characters and the sizing of the characters.

Thanks.

My son has the same issue and were taught strategies to improve spartial awareness. If u r seeing an OT, best to ask them for specific activities.

My son is 5 yrs old. We have not brought him to see any OT yet. Any recommendation? Do we need to do a screening before consulting an OT?

Can be fine motor skills, or binocular vision, or eye-hand coordination... or just needs some practice. If he only just started with writing practices, give him some time. I sat in in my son's K1 class recently and most of the kids' handwriting are far from perfect.

For eye hand coordination, ball games, badminton, tracing dot to dot activities are helpful. For fine motor skills to strengthen fingers, working with clay is one activity.

For binocular vision, you have to screen it with a professional. You can observe your child and ask him if he sees double sometimes, or big spaces in some words.

Thanks Orange Belt.

Thanks Deminc.

Do you think there is a need to bring my son for proper screening?

you can if you want to, but i feel he's still very young. Having spent a lot of money on OT and screening, the only thing that I feel the only thing that is really important to screen asap is vision if there are such concerns. If you think his vision is ok, just make sure he gets enough of the other activities promoting eye-hand coordination and strengthening the hands, and then reassess the situation every half a year. So see if there's improvement by June, and then by November. Chances are there would be great improvements by then. See if the school provide guidance on this. Sometimes they are simply not taught properly in school on letter formation and spacing.

Please do screen your child for Irlen syndrome (also known as visual dyslexia) if all tests at an eye specialist are good. My gal is an Irlen syndrome case despite all the OT strategies of specing and writing on the line.

In Singapore , there are only 2 irlen specialist - Dr Yap at Igard.com.sg and Dr Doris Ang at Irlen clinic.

Please do screen your child for Irlen syndrome (also known as visual dyslexia) if all tests at an eye specialist are good. My gal is an Irlen syndrome case despite all the OT strategies of specing and writing on the line.

In Singapore , there are only 2 irlen specialist - Dr Yap at Igard.com.sg and Dr Doris Ang at Irlen clinic.

Was your child diagnosed by Yap or Ang? My son saw both and had different diagnosis from both of them. Do you mind sharing which system of lenses you used in the end? Irlen filters or Intuitive colorimeter system and the costs? Please PM me if you prefer not to state publicly. Thanks!

Hi we used Dr Ang. My gal's lens has prescription so it costs us S $700 for the coloured lens but we definitely finds it worthwhile. Coloured lens with no prescription is s $500. We're just so relief to find the solution to our gal's spacing n writing issues as well as addressing her skipping words when she reads.

You can check out more information about Irlen at www.irlen.com.au.