ABSTRACT
For children between the ages of 6 and 12, school is a central and important part of their lives. Participation in school-related tasks and activities are critical to the development of academic, physical and social skills.1 Children who are not coping well with the demands of the school environment may be referred to pediatric occupational therapists for intervention. Initial concerns that are expressed by teachers and parents most often include comments about the children's handwriting and written work. "Printing is illegible," "pencil grip is odd," "written work is all over the page," and "written products take a lot of effort" are representative of the types of remarks made on initial referral. Before beginning to intervene, most therapists take time to observe the child in the classroom and to interview teachers and parents further. At this point, additional, significant difficulties often become evident. Teachers and parents may comment that they have observed that the child "does not plan before starting tasks," "hurries through projects," "is careless," "is unaware when he has made a mistake," "does not attend to details," "has difficulty getting started," and "does not generalize what he learns from one day to the next." These and other similar types of concerns reflect a pattern of organizational difficulties that is typical of many children with learning disabilities (LD) attention deficit disorder (ADHD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
