Solving the Handwriting Puzzle: Improving Handwriting with Specific Evaluation and Positive Treatment Seminar training classes conferences & workshops presented by Cross Country Education Seminars register for training on FindaSeminar.com

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Training Course Syllabus:

PROGRAM DETAILS

Handwriting is a primary functional outcome addressed by occupational therapists in a school setting. This singular outcome is the result of many underlying deficits that impact a student's well-being and ability to function in a classroom. Handwriting is an essential expression of a student and how they see the world, written on paper. Nothing is more personal than a handwritten
note of someone's thoughts and feelings. This note loses its power if the reader struggles to read it, because it is not legible. Students who struggle with handwriting may experience frustration and anxiety, which may negatively impact their overall school experience. Since they are challenged with conveying a written message, their school work and grades can be impacted.

Why another handwriting seminar? This seminar was created to decrease children's frustration and improve their self-esteem as a hand writer. This practical seminar will provide the foundation to teaching handwriting with clear, concise and positive instruction. Techniques used in this seminar will incorporate kinesthetic, tactile, visual motor, ocular motor and conceptual means of teaching handwriting quality. Also, handwriting quality will be broken down to five simple pieces. By breaking handwriting down to its pieces, students can improve their handwriting one piece at a time. Teaching handwriting quality in this way empowers the students to correct their own handwriting, while increasing their self-esteem. Use of specific treatment techniques helps to improve students´ handwriting faster, thus shortening the duration of necessary intervention. Participants will leave this seminar invigorated and with practical handwriting techniques that help kids piece together the "Handwriting Puzzle."

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• Identify techniques to accurately and quickly correct handwriting mistakes


• Examine how to break handwriting down into five simple pieces for easier instruction


• Organize and treat sensory-motor weakness related to handwriting


• Recognize the significance of hand preference and laterality


• Participate in a hands-on lab that will examine the most common areas of poor handwriting quality



• Analyze a handwriting sample and identify common areas of handwriting dysfunction


• Obtain positive tools to enhance your student's self esteem regarding handwriting


• Identify how to give your students control and confidence to identify and correct their own handwriting errors


• Utilize kinesthetic, proprioceptive, tactile, ocular motor and visual motor strategies to enhance areas of handwriting dysfunction


• Develop new, efficient and measurable handwriting goals


• Identify handwriting readiness, along with physical and visual motor skills, needed to write


• Utilize specific treatment strategies for hand grasp, reversal, copying from a board, handwriting rate and mixed dominance


• Classify ocular motor deficits that impact handwriting

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Karin Hessellund Warner, MOT, OTR/L, is a Registered/Certified Occupational Therapist with over 10 years experience
working with various pediatric deficits and diagnoses. Ms. Warner received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Oregon in 1994 and earned her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Samuel Merritt College in 1996. She has worked in a
variety of settings, including the San Diego Unified School District and Carlsbad Unified School District, and is currently working at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, California. While working in the school district, Ms. Warner saw many children who struggled with their handwriting. These children would become upset and struggle with their self-esteem; thus, their classroom work would be impacted. Working with these children led Ms. Warner to develop the Handwriting Puzzle, a program designed at taking the stress and frustration out of handwriting.

During her time in San Diego schools, Ms. Warner was on a panel, which included the director of Special Education and Developmental Optometrists, that was established to integrate vision therapy into the school environment. Drawing on her expertise derived from this panel, she published an article in the journal Behavioral Aspects of Vision Care. She has conducted seminars locally on various occupational therapy topics. At the request of the Californian Regional Vision Therapists´ Forum she presented on "Understanding Occupational Therapy's Role in Sensory Integration: Identifying and describing how sensory processing disorders affect vision and behavior." Most recently, she was invited to present "Solving the Handwriting Puzzle" at the 2007 Occupational Therapy Association of California's Continuing Education Conference.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"It was honestly one of the better workshops that I've been to and I received some really good activities and ideas that I'm already using with my students."

"Thank you, Karin, for your systematic approach with specific steps to work on. I was missing ´pieces.´ Thank you for your great samples."

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• Occupational Therapists


• Occupational Therapy Assistants


• Resource Specialists


• Special Education Teachers


• Early Elementary Teachers


• School Psychologists


• Preschool and Daycare Teachers


• Administrators

CREDITS:

This seminar qualifies for 6 continuing education hours as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your course outline and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific filing requirements.

Cross Country Education is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Cross Country Education maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This program offers 6 CE credits for psychologists. Full attendance is required to receive credit for psychologist, variable credit for partial attendance may not be awarded based on the APA guidelines.

Cross Country Education is an AOTA Approved Provider of continuing education. This course is offered for .6 AOTA CEUs. The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA. AOTA Educational level Introductory, Category 1: Domain of OT, 2: Occupational Therapy Process, 3: Professional Issues.

Cross Country Education is an NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP) and may offer NBCC approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements. (NBCC Provider #5904) The ACEP solely is responsible for all aspects of the program. Six (6) contact (clock) hours are being awarded for completion of this program.

This program has been submitted to the State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board for approval of six (6) clock hours.

SEMINAR TIME:

Seminar Check-in: 7:30 Seminar 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM

Seminar Summary:

Decrease children's frustration and examine specific areas to improve handwriting quality. Treatment strategies for confused or mixed hand dominance, handwriting rate, reversal and hand grasp will all be discussed. (see full course description)

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