Fine Motor Skills

[Juturna]

Okay, so after searching through the forums for a proper place to put this, and junk posting all over the place, I'm finally just going to sit down and ask what I came here to ask. Although I'm not sure if this is the right forum, so feel free to move it if it isn't u_u

Does anybody have any experience or advice concerning fine motor skills? My writing has always been atrocious, like absolutely horrid - at about 10th grade I said screw trying to get better, and my senior year everything was typed up.

However - I am also taking an interest in art, or well, practicing quite a lot (Although not getting too far yet,), and my main problem is lack of fine motor skills.

Like my speech skills, I do have issues with them, but I don't really qualify for therapy, so I've been stuck with finding makeshift methods for both. (I have for the former, but not for motor skills, unfortunately.) But when I googled the problem, all I fond was solutions for children - and I have better hand skills than that, but not as much as I'd like. It's also worth noting sometimes I feel like the muscles in my fingers are.. weak (which I don't know if you're even supposed to tell just by 'feeling' that. Not running my fingers over my hand, but rather they just kinda feel weak, so basically internal feeling.)

I can definitely feel my fingers feel a bit different after drawing something really hard (aka my brain won't listen to me and I have to redraw a line several times, and then that process repeats several more times. It can be stressful for me, and I have to learn to just go with lines even if they look bad sometimes) or after a long period of drawing, but it's a good feeling, kinda like being sore after a workout, but to a lesser degree.

So if anybody has any experience, or any advice or really anything concerning the topic (including if any of ya'll have issues with it, and experiences with it, etc), I'd love to hear it c:

 

[Harrison]

Perhaps not aspie related but I had polio as a child and was paralysed for three years. Once I started coming out of it I had to do all the basics again, learn to walk, use my hands etc.

My aunt was an artist, very creative and probably an aspie too. She got me into painting Chinese text, observing the rules on brushstrokes etc. She would start with large sized characters and I would reduce and reduce until I could control the brush at a small intricate size.

She also gave me clock mechanisms to take apart and reassemble, they also got smaller, down to watch parts and tweezers.

To excercise my fingers I used her zither (have no other word for this instrument), I was rubbish at it but it did improve my co-ordination.

Found a picture of a zither

Haven't seen one since I was a kid, may have to make it a special interest as it looks awesome.

 

[The Penguin]

I did have speech issues during my childhood and was able to get speech therapy.

The handwriting has been always difficult for me for many reasons. One I can't write neatly. Since I rarely write anymore on paper, during the times I need to, my hands are just too sore if I need to write more than 15 minutes. It might be even less than that. I can't read my own handwriting well. The only way I could if I write extremely slow but then I wouldn't be productive. I felt I done better typing myself. I like having access to spell check as I'm not good at spelling at all.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

Okay, so after searching through the forums for a proper place to put this, and junk posting all over the place, I'm finally just going to sit down and ask what I came here to ask. Although I'm not sure if this is the right forum, so feel free to move it if it isn't u_u

Does anybody have any experience or advice concerning fine motor skills? My writing has always been atrocious, like absolutely horrid - at about 10th grade I said screw trying to get better, and my senior year everything was typed up.

However - I am also taking an interest in art, or well, practicing quite a lot (Although not getting too far yet,), and my main problem is lack of fine motor skills.

Like my speech skills, I do have issues with them, but I don't really qualify for therapy, so I've been stuck with finding makeshift methods for both. (I have for the former, but not for motor skills, unfortunately.) But when I googled the problem, all I fond was solutions for children - and I have better hand skills than that, but not as much as I'd like. It's also worth noting sometimes I feel like the muscles in my fingers are.. weak (which I don't know if you're even supposed to tell just by 'feeling' that. Not running my fingers over my hand, but rather they just kinda feel weak, so basically internal feeling.)

I can definitely feel my fingers feel a bit different after drawing something really hard (aka my brain won't listen to me and I have to redraw a line several times, and then that process repeats several more times. It can be stressful for me, and I have to learn to just go with lines even if they look bad sometimes) or after a long period of drawing, but it's a good feeling, kinda like being sore after a workout, but to a lesser degree.

So if anybody has any experience, or any advice or really anything concerning the topic (including if any of ya'll have issues with it, and experiences with it, etc), I'd love to hear it c:

I went through a ton of training therapy to get over EVERYTHING you are going through. Back then they didn't know that this was all Comorbid ASD stuff. Now it's in the DSM as can be connected to ASD.

I still have crappy hand writing, but I have great fine motor Skills. I actually saw this in the new posts and thought "I relate to that heading" lol... but like I said lots of training.

Training tools the doctors gave me that you can find or make:

I had dot to dot books with over 200 dots (They have these at Barnes and Nobles)

Timed Games where you have to hit lights all over a big box (any timed search games check out Kongregate.com for puzzle games that are timed.)

2 Charts, Identical, one small one big, all random letters. Read one line on the small chart, then one on the big which you would place on a far wall; don't loose your place! (You can print one out)

Also had to draw the alphabet with a flashlight and eventually just with my finger in the air,

I had to play 2 hours of tetris a week (this was pretty awesome homework)

And be confident and do lots of crafty and artsy stuff regardless, your hands can hold a memory better than your brain can I swear.

I was delighted when I Found out that I can draw roses with my eyes closed!

 

[Kari Suttle]

I don't write neatly, and only can if I'm going very slowly, very carefully, and spend a good minute writing a single line. I clearly remember going out to apply for summer jobs between semesters at college and one of the first things mom would tell me was "Make sure you use your best handwriting!" if that says anything! Or something to that effect anyways. '

I also have poor fine motor skills, and strength with them as well. Just yesterday i had to ask a coworker to open a water bottle for me. It happens all the time at home. In general my fine motor skills are poor, but it isn't that noticable aside from it hindering me in opening things. It does take me a lot of effort trying to open a new trash bag (trash bag for the trash can or plastic bag set at work as a cashier). If I'm at work, i'll purposely make sure to bag up a cold item like a gallon of milk because afterwards my hands will be just damp enough to open the bag set that needs opened with ease.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

I don't write neatly, and only can if I'm going very slowly, very carefully, and spend a good minute writing a single line. I clearly remember going out to apply for summer jobs between semesters at college and one of the first things mom would tell me was "Make sure you use your best handwriting!" if that says anything! Or something to that effect anyways. '

I also have poor fine motor skills, and strength with them as well. Just yesterday i had to ask a coworker to open a water bottle for me. It happens all the time at home. In general my fine motor skills are poor, but it isn't that noticable aside from it hindering me in opening things. It does take me a lot of effort trying to open a new trash bag (trash bag for the trash can or plastic bag set at work as a cashier). If I'm at work, i'll purposely make sure to bag up a cold item like a gallon of milk because afterwards my hands will be just damp enough to open the bag set that needs opened with ease.

omg I hate opening shopping bags, ban of my existence!

 

[clg114]

I print everything except my signature because no one (including me) can read my handwriting. I'm left handed and write with my left hand above what I'm writing. I have trouble drawing stick men, forget about anything else. I'm very clumsy, to the point tripping over my own feet. I am always dropping things. I am very bad at sports even though I've studied and practiced several spots. Golf is a good example. Like any Aspie, I've studied the game, I know what equipment is best for me and I know the proper way to swing and yet I am a truly bad player. I guess I don't have fine motor skills, just rough motor skills.

 

[OddGirl]

When I was a kid, my handwriting was atrocious. I was diagnosed with dysgraphia in grade 4, but other than getting Occupational Therapy in grade 5, I got no real help for it through the educational system. My grandmother helped me a lot though. She had a lovely italic handwriting, the kind that used to be taught back in the early 1900's (Nan was born in 1918), and she showed me the kinds of penmanship exercises that she had to do in school. These involved writing single elements of handwriting (loops like lower-case E's and the tops of lower-case L's, spikes like lower case I's, humps like sections of lower-case M's and N's, etc. These were copied over and over again, with focus on their being each alike and level. She taught me how to do them. Now, as a kid, I had little interest in improving my writing, but as an adult, it has become something I've really worked hard at, and I returned to doing the penmanship exercises Nan taught me back then a few years ago. Since I've been doing them, my handwriting has improved hugely, and even my drawing has gotten better, more sure. I've also noticed that my hand doesn't shake as much as it used to (there's a genetic hand tremor in all the women on Mum's side of the family).

As an adult, I have far more trouble with gross motor issues than fine motor. I am still clumsy, always have dozens of bruises all over my legs from colliding with things, can't throw or catch a ball decently, avoid sports at all cost, and have a tendency to trip over air.

 

[AsheSkyler]

My handwriting was awful, but I had an interest in calligraphy. My mom got me a few calligraphy books so I spent a few years carefully writing and tracing over a lot of letters. That improved a good bit of my handwriting. Still not as pretty as the examples, but I'm legible now.

But I've also been drawing since I was a wee thing, and I also work with small art. I honestly can't tell you how I developed the fine motor skills for it. I guess do like Harrison said, start with something big and slowly adjust yourself to working smaller. The clock and instrument thing is a good idea. I like to crochet, so fighting the yarn and working with all the little loops helped hone my precision.

Also, how about a stress ball or other little exercises to strengthen your fingers? Do a little pastry baking and you can not only improve your grip, but build your biceps up too.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

My handwriting was awful, but I had an interest in calligraphy. My mom got me a few calligraphy books so I spent a few years carefully writing and tracing over a lot of letters. That improved a good bit of my handwriting. Still not as pretty as the examples, but I'm legible now.

But I've also been drawing since I was a wee thing, and I also work with small art. I honestly can't tell you how I developed the fine motor skills for it. I guess do like Harrison said, start with something big and slowly adjust yourself to working smaller. The clock and instrument thing is a good idea. I like to crochet, so fighting the yarn and working with all the little loops helped hone my precision.

Also, how about a stress ball or other little exercises to strengthen your fingers? Do a little pastry baking and you can not only improve your grip, but build your biceps up too.

I was forced to learn calligraphy because my mom thought it would help, I am ashamed of my writing to this day because of all "why don't you slow down? hold your pencil right and you'll write better. etc" Now I have a boss who tells me I don't write clear enough...

She pointed out I write just fine with a marker, I told her that's different I make artist strokes, so now she has me write everything in sharpie. lol

 

[DarkAscent]

I have poor fine motor control. My handwriting used to be atrocious to the point where I failed my mock GCSE exams because it was illegible. My English teacher gave me a cursive handwriting book to trace and practice from which helped a lot as it taught me the groove and patterns of handwriting. Have you tried that, OP?

Now, I just type up my notes (except for my maths notes) onto my laptop in lessons and it's a lot easier. I've scrapped trying to write my notes because I have to concentrate on making my handwriting legible and miss out on learning instead. Writing also makes my hand hurt from the concentration and determination to control the movements too.

It's strange. I can use and eat with chopsticks perfectly though.

 

[Dynamic]

Here's a book I highly recommend, that's very relevant to the subject, in my opinion.
Basically, learning to excel at anything in life boils down to a few basic fundamentals. When you perform a task, the repetitions of performing that task wrap additional layers of a substance called myelin around the neurons associated with performing that task. What that means is, your neurons are becoming better conductors so they can fire faster and more efficiently. What that ultimately means is, if you put in the time and repetition at something, in most cases it is pretty much an inevitability that you will achieve a decent level of proficiency, or possibly even mastery if you persist long enough. The ultimate level of proficiency is subconscious competence, where you can perform a task without even thinking about it. We all have some sort of task that we perform on a daily basis, at a level of subconscious competence. If you try to think about what that task is for YOU, and think about how you achieved that level of subconscious competence with it, it will teach you a lot.

Here's a less technical explanation. Basically, to learn to do something well, you're going to have to put in time and repetition at it, to get there. It's going to take time. Keep up with it consistently, and your skill is going to improve. It really is an inevitability, which should bring people comfort. The best thing you can do is to start developing a habit of practicing that thing EVERY single day! I can't stress the importance of that enough. It's sometimes very tough to build that habit, but it pays off in the end. Even if it just amounts to 15 minutes of practice per day, if you do that every day, it adds up. There is probably nothing more important than that; practicing every day.

Also, think of specific things about it that are difficult for you. Lets take art, for example. I used to draw quite a bit, but haven't in quite awhile. When I did, one of the things that was very difficult for me was proper proportionality with certain body parts. I usually like drawing cartoon/comic characters, and I would usually have legs or arms a bit too long or over-sized. So what I would do is find one of those things that you need work on, and then work on it repeatedly. Several times per week, you should focus some of your practice sessions almost entirely on that thing that is difficult for you. Eventually it will become easier. When you feel you are doing well enough with that thing, then find the next problem or deficiency, and work on that. I'd just recommend not working on improving more than one deficiency at a time, as it can quickly become counter productive. In my example, if I was really trying to improve my drawing skills, this might be how I'd go about it.

• Problem: Difficulty in proper arm/leg proportions
• Phase 1: Practice drawing the left leg. For a period of several weeks, or as long as necessary, spend 50% of daily practice drawing the left leg of a character. If necessary, use a stencil for multiple repetitions, then side by side with the actual drawing, then next to a ruler marked for correct length, then next to a ruler that is not marked for the specific limb length. Ultimately progress towards drawing freehand without a guide, checked for accuracy. After doing this successfully for a number of reps, move on to the next task.
• Phase 2: Same as above with the right leg.
• Phase 3: Same as above with both legs together.
• Phase 4: Arms. Same multi-phase process as with the legs.

That might sound a bit ridiculous, but I'm sure everyone gets the idea. Break it down. Start small. Work on one thing at a time until you can do it well. Then move on to the next task. It's not magic. It's just repetition, consistency, and persistence.

Learning to improve your hand writing will be very similar to this. Pick out words or letters that give you a lot of trouble, and work on those individually, over many repetitions, until you can write them well.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I was forced to learn calligraphy because my mom thought it would help, I am ashamed of my writing to this day because of all "why don't you slow down? hold your pencil right and you'll write better. etc" Now I have a boss who tells me I don't write clear enough...

She pointed out I write just fine with a marker, I told her that's different I make artist strokes, so now she has me write everything in sharpie. lol

I find it much easier to have prettier handwriting with larger utensils too. Possibly why most calligraphy you see is large and thick-inked and rarely penciled.