So I wrote the blog last week about the new pens.

I told you how I was going to try to introduce the pens to Elizabeth to try.  So here is how it went…(spoiler alert!

It is a struggle!)

I showed them to her and she liked them.

I helped her place her hands in the one and only position and she liked them.

I asked her to copy something and she said “No!”

When I asked why she told me that she wanted to use the other pen.  We talked about how this pen helps her grip to be a good one that will help her write better.  She still said she wanted to use her pen.

So I handed her her pen and asked her to copy the item from the book.  She did but with the same amount of spinning and regripping as before.  So I told her that the new pen would help with that.  Still she said she liked her pen and still she gripped and regripped it.

So we agreed to keep trying the new pen as well as using her pen.  She agreed.

Something that came to mind as we trialed the new adaptive pen is that habits for my daughter with special needs are more difficult to break than habits for others.  I was told early on in her life the importance of teaching a skill the correct way, right away.  And that if the skill was “inputted” incorrectly it would be very difficult to correct it.  This is due to her Dyspraxia.

I think sometimes this difficulty in changing a habit or a skill really shows itself, and I am again reminded that it will be a great deal of work to mold or adjust something.  And that things will not change just by talking it through as it might for those without her special needs.

I feel like so many of us are our own special journeys with our special needs children that what works for one may not work for another and vice versa.  However, we all have the best of intentions for our children as driving forces to all we do.

I share the story of the pen for those who are working with a child who has that same challenges as Elizabeth, with the hope that maybe someone working with your child might need to know about the quickly formed habits and work with them accordingly.  Because sharing as much as we can with those who work with our children makes all the difference in the world.

So as I write this I see the pens sitting by her work area, kind of just waiting around to be tried again, and they will be.

I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele Gianetti author of “I Believe In You: A Mother and Daughter’s Special Journey” and “Emily’s Sister”

 

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