Jacob is an 8 year old boy. When he came to Learn Sense Grow he had a ‘fixed’ mindset about handwriting and had trouble completing morning, school and afternoon routines. His parents reported that he was not confident at school or with sports, and lacked self-esteem. This was having an impact on his resilience in the classroom, when making new friends and when learning new skills (such as new sports).
The process:
An Occupational Therapy standardised assessment revealed that Jacob had ‘below average’ fine, visual and gross motor skills. The Occupational Therapist explained to Jacob’s parents that this could be influencing Jacob’s self-esteem and confidence, thus impacting on his resilience. The assessment also showed that Jacob had trouble with motor planning and sequencing, impacting on his ability to write and follow routines. Jacob was recommended to complete three terms of OT to help work on these skills.
The Occupational Therapy assessment highlighted that Jacob was under responsive, meaning that he needed lots of movement to ‘wake up’ his body throughout the day. The OT explained Sensory Integration theory, and that Jacob would also need a ‘Sensory Diet’ to help speed his engine up to complete these daily routines.
The Occupational Therapist first observed to see which activities helped to speed up his engine, and which activities slowed his engine down. Based on this, they created a ‘Sensory Diet’ for Jacob and his family to follow in the mornings before school, during school and after school.
Next, Occupational Therapy sessions were tailored to helping Jacob develop his fine, visual and gross motor skills. Jacob completed fun games and activities and his skills developed over time. Whilst doing so, the Occupational Therapist ensured that they continued to discuss self-esteem, confidence and a ‘growth mindset’ to help develop resilience skills.
The Occupational Therapist collaborated with Jacob’s teacher and parents regularly to ensure that routines were being followed through with at home and school. A visual schedule of morning and after school routines was developed for home, and a checklist was developed at school, to help plan and sequence the activities.
The benefits:
- The ‘Sensory Diet’ enabled Jacob to wake up his body in the morning, during the day and after school, which made him more alert to follow instructions.
- Focus on visual, fine and gross motor skill development improved Jacob’s strength and coordination in all areas. This had a flow on effect to his confidence and self-esteem.
- Jacob learnt about self-esteem and confidence, which enabled him to focus on his strengths and understand that everybody has challenges.
- Jacob developed a ‘growth mindset’ through working on the above goals, and working directly on the impacts of using a ‘fixed’ mindset.
His handwriting legibility, sizing and formation improved over the course of OT.
The result:
Jacob is now a confident young boy in the classroom and at home. He understands his body systems better to attend to instructions, and knows when and how to ‘wake up’ his body. His self-esteem, confidence and resilience building have enabled Jacob to try out new sports, and he is now a big soccer fan! Writing is still not one of Jacob’s favourite subjects, but he uses his growth mindset and confidence within the lesson to persevere. Jacob is a much happier and more engaged boy at home and in the classroom.