7 year old can't draw a square?

[Brenda]

My dd 7 still can't draw a square,heart,rectangle or X.Her handwriting is awful and she's in 1st grade.Her OT gave her a test yesterday for Visuaual Perception.I'll have the results next Thursday.Does this sound like a visual perception problem or just ADHD?What else could be going on?

[VaMom]

Brenda,

I think you are on the right track with the visual perception. If it were just the handwriting, I would attribute it to the ADHD, but even with ADHD a 7 yo should not have that much difficulty drawing most of the shapes you mentioned. The heart might be an exception... that is more complex, but she should be able to do the square (not perfect, of course, but so you can tell what it is), the rect. and the X.

Vision therapy helped my ds with this kind of thing. However, like all therapies it is highly individual as to whether it is right for you and it is expensive.

[snorkeler]

Maybe you need to have her eyes examined just to be sure.
Not her acuity( well, maybe that to), but maybe when she looks down her eyes may swing out or in , Amblyopia ( also known as wandering eye). Even if it is slight, not noticed by looking at her it may occur only when reading. Can she track well? Can she focus from board to desk well? This can be checked by the OT.
Can she make any of these shapes when given one as an example? OR Just when asked to draw them from memory? Does she trip on uneven pavement, ramps and does she run into door knobs that stick out? If you answered yes to most of these questions then maybe she should have an appiontment with a Peds optomotrist or PEDS, developmental optomotrist.
When you say her handwriting is awful, is it too big, all over the page ,goes in a downward slant , upward slant, letter reversals, skipped letters?
What was it that qualified her for OT services anyway, just curious! Maybe she isnt getting enough OT.
Would be very curious to know the answers to these ?'s.
My son can't draw triangles or write W's or most letters with slants to them due to nystagmus(vertical) anything diagonal he literally cant see it! There is such a thing as horizontal nystagmus too, seeing things on a plane
is like looking at hot pavement on a sweltering day. Waving up and down as if on a boat.
This is not as common as say no depth perception or poor tracking but these are all things you should have checked. The standard eye exam done by the school nurse will not tell you any of these things because that is only an acuity test, can you see near and far. Send a reply here or PM
Thanks, Snorkeler AKA Elastigril