Ace Bandage

We've recently incorporated an Ace bandage into our therapy for Grace. The technical term is called Modified Constraint Induced Therapy. Basically we wrap her dominant hand (lefty) with an ace wrap so that she is forced to use Righty. Then on righty we wrap the last three fingers so that she is forced to use a pincer grasp (which is important for buttoning or manipulating smaller objects.) She currently uses the Palmer grasp (her palm) to pick up most things with her right hand.

Today during OT I watched as Grace patiently picked up several puzzle pieces using her pincer grasp (her therapist draws a smiley face on her thumb and pointer finger and tells Grace that they have to kiss:).  I also learned about a three buck chuck. It's basically when you use your pointer and your middle finger and thumb to grasp larger, heavier objects. Overall, Grace did very well and didn't get frustrated. I love to see the look of determination and concentration on Grace's face while she is trying ever so hard to use Mr. Righty.

So our homework for the next week is to try to use the MCIT at least 30 minutes 2 x day during play and see how well she tolerates it.  We also have tried and do kineseo taping but she usually takes that off within the first hour.

We also found out that starting in August we are going to take a slight break from OT. We are at a place now where we know the fundamentals of what we need to work on. As she gets older, she will have a better understanding of the importance of using Mr. Righty and better problem solving skills of how to use it.  She will never have "normal" use of that hand but with practise, she teach Mr. Righty how to assist and be helpful in every day life, something you and I don't even have to think about.

Overall we have come a LONG way since we first started OT. It took several months for her to realize she even had a right hand. Now she proudly announces to me at various times in the day, "Look mom..I'm using Righty!"