What's in a name

When I was thinking of a name for my baby, I had always imagined using the name Wesley. It was the name of a character in my favorite movie (Princess Bride) although the characters name was Westley, it wasn't that hard to spell, and it's not a name you hear often. Easy to spell was a big selling point for me. Never did I imagine why that would be so important.

Wes' teachers and I have been working hard on getting him to write his own name this year. His OT wrote a letter of recommendation for his IEP meeting on implements that should be used when he writes. The use of a pencil weight, a finger grip and actually a sweat band were recommended. I'm ordering the pencil weights and the finger grips because school has been dragging their feet and Wes shouldn't have to wait and suffer before they get a move on. Anyway, he's been tracing the letters that are written for him and school as well as his OT have been using Handwriting without Tears to help Wes learn to write his letters. Deep down, I don't think it was that he didn't know how, it was that he couldn't. That's where the implements came into play. His sensory issues were so deep that he needed as much input to his hands (the weights and the arm band) to help him focus on the writing rather then his hands.

I'm proud to say that he came home from school with a paper that had his name scrawled across it in that little preschooler way. The letters were so large, he needed two lines to complete his name. The look on his face when I asked him if he wrote his name was enough for me to know that he was so proud of himself, as was I. He still has some trouble with the S and the Y but by the end of the school year, he'll be a pro at it. Now, whenever we do projects at home, I make him sign his name. Practice makes perfect!