Little box of tools

Last week, I visited my daughter's school and her teacher was quite excited to show me the progress they made with my little sweetie.

The box was a magnetic school pencil box. On the outside of the box, the OT had drawn a picture on the box with a scissors, a bracelet, a gel-type mat and a weighted pencil that she made especially for her. The pictures indicated when she was supposed to use each tool. The hand weight is for cutting with scissors or when she writes over her head, which is a common trigger for ET tremors. The mat and weighted pencil are for when she writes her letters and words. Despite being four, she is learning how to write words phonetically.

The  weighted bracelet looked like a small, light hand weight that you would use to exercise. It was nothing fancy. In fact, I wanted to bedazzle it so that my daughter liked it better. I am not a bedazzler  but my girl likes things that glitter, shimmer and shine.

Leah uses the weighted bracelet to cut a circle with a scissors and when she is writing on the blackboard, and yes, they still have one of those in the classroom that each student uses to sign their name when they arrive each day. She uses the hand weight to reduce the shake when she cuts paper. Teacher Sara was so impressed with the results. My little girl cut like there was no wiggle, jiggle or shake.

The Velcro weight is on her pencil and it is used for when she writes. The last piece in her little box is a gel mat that allows the paper to stay in place. Teacher Sara was amazed at the difference in her writing and the progress she was making. It was rather cute that one of the other pre-kindergartners picked up the bracelet and gave it a try. The little girl's mom put it back in the magic toy box. We also have a weighted pencil at home now too.

Our doctor sent over a diagnosis to allow the OT person to help her now and over time as she needs it. We are coming to accept it and Leah is aware of it but does not let it rule her life. She calls it her shake. When we ask her who she is like, she says her daddy.

Thanks to Teacher Sara, my little girl was diagnosed earlier than most people. My husband was not diagnosed until he was in the office with my daughter's doctor. One of the goals of this blog is to connect with people and parents who are dealing with this or have dealt with this. There is so little information on ET in children that it can be challenging to parent a child with ET to help them flourish as they learn and grow. I encourage you to tell your story in this blog and join the conversation.