When children start Occupational
Therapy for difficulty with handwriting and other fine motor tasks, such as
buttoning and lacing, we brief the parents about the core activity we did
during the session. The typical response we receive is "so are you or when
are you going to work on their hands?" This question is quite
understandable because we don't easily see the connection between core strength
and fine motor tasks.
Picture if you will a piece of yarn
with a piece of pipe cleaner attached to it as its arms. If we were to
hold the yarn at the bottom and attempt to hold it up it would just fall over
and the pipe cleaner attached to it would fall over also. Even through the pipe
cleaner is firmer/stronger than the yarn it could only stay up as much as the
yarn would let it and support it. While my example is an exaggeration, I
think you can see my point. So, the first step to being able to utilize
our arms and fingers effectively is to build up the support from the trunk/base
forward.
The weaker the core the more
support is needed to remain upright.
The stronger the core the less
support is needed.
Signs of a weak core can present
itself in various stages and aspects of your child's life, from when they are
babies having difficulty crawling or rolling over to difficulty in
school. Their difficulty in school can present itself not just with the
legibility of their handwriting or physical coordination but it can also
present itself in behavioral difficulties. Picture a child fatiguing
easily having to remain sitting in a straight back chair to complete their
class work. As the day progresses they become more fatigued which can
lead to a reduced ability to self-regulate, leading to outbursts… you see where
I'm going with this.
There are several ways to detect if
your child has a weak core. Have you noticed that your child is always laying
his or her head on the table/desk at home or at school or leans on one hand
while writing or reading? Does your child's body appear to be like a
noodle by the end of the day, having difficulty remaining upright? When
sitting on the floor does your child sit in a W-sitting position (knees forward
with lower legs on the sides looking like a "w"? Is your child
always leaning on you or the furniture when standing? How about their
handwriting? Is it neat or sloppy? Do they have difficulty with cutting
straight? And these are just a few! Here is a handy list I found from The
Inspired Treehouse https://theinspiredtreehouse.com/how-to-tell-if-your-child-has-weak-core-muscles/>
(No affiliation).
You can start today making small
changes to help improve core strength in your young one. Simple changes
such as having them cross leg sit (commonly known as criss cross apple sauce)
instead of "W." While watching television, make a game out of holding
the "superman" pose the longest or have crab walk races during the
commercials. You can also kick it up a notch and incorporate exercises such as
sit-ups & planks while still keeping it fun. You can access other ideas and
resources at our website at https://www.amazingkidztherapy.com/family-and-cargiver-resources.html
to help with this endeavor.
By Allieson C. Bruce-Woolcock, COTA/L
Amazing Kidz Therapy, PLLC
