Need Advice About Occupational Therapy!

hi,
I have a 4 year old son who will be five in may and has been receiving ot, and speech as well. I would love to talk to you about this because i have had previous experience with "odd" therapists. ###-###-####. Anyway, my son adores these things that he calls "squishies" I think they are actually called water snakes. They sell them at party city and other stores. they are really cheap (like 99cents), and extremely convenient. My son uses these as his way to calm and center himself when he becomes over-stimulated. He loves to squeeze them and holds them to comfort himself. Hope this works for you! good luck.

WOW. If you are in NY state, there are other options. My son is now 6 and half. He has been receiving therapy since he was about 2 and half. In my county and throughout NY I believe there are programs. My son is now in school, so it is run through the school system. Check your local school. Contact the CSE Chair. I think your son needs a new therapist. I cannot beleive this one is the only one out there. If you need more info, please feel free to contact me.
Have they tried Brushing Therapy with him? It is a surgical brush that they use on my son, they just brush it on his body over his clothes and it gives him the kind of senstation that he is missing for whatever reason and it works.
I wish I could help more, I feel for you.

Hi. I used to work as a special purpose preschool teacher, where all the students were receiving some sort of therapy. A book that really explained things well was called "the out of sync child", they also have a book called "the out of syn child has fun". They are both great resources for parents that have children with sensory integration issues. The book listened second, has activities that parentsteacher can do. There are alot of programs out there to help childing, such as a brushing program... I would just talk to the OT.

Not sure if this info will help you - senidng it so you can chek it out. Your son's sensitivity to loud noises is what made me think of the Davis Center.

http://www.thedaviscenter.com

Hugs from Doula S. - Hang in there!

I would talk to the head of the aganies and tell her this perticular theripist and your child are not a match. It would be their responciblity to help find another one. If they are unwilling ofetn hospitals and nursing homes have speech,physical and occupational theripst. I would call some and ask some questions. Sometimes the hospitals see people on out patient basis, or they may know of another ageny that would beable to help. The school districts supply theripst to children in school, so a call to your local grade maybe able to help you find a new theripist as well. I have a 10 year old that has recieved speech, occupatial, and physical therapy since he was 6months. I do know there have been theripist that just couldn't seem to connect with him. Although theipst and agenies don't like to see you leave in reality it doesn't matter. It comes down to whats best for your child. I do have to say that dealing with sensory issues can take awhile and are very hard to change. It isn't uncommon for it to cause tamptrum and things for awhile. My 13 year old has a sensory deficit and it has been very hard to change a lot of his behaviors, and there are some that I have just let him keep, because changing it wasn't working. Good luck!!

I understand what you are going through. I have an 11 year old that is Autistic, ADHD, and has sensory issues, plus my 5 year old son has ADHD, PDD, and has many ssensory issues as well. When my youngest gets overstimulated, I hold him in my arms, and try to rub the top of his head down the back of his neck. He finds this very soothing. (he also puts things in his mouth, and his hands in his pants when overstimulated) The bean box, or rice box are great ideas also. I know how hard it can be- loud noises in my house, unless they are being made by my son's can turn my home upside down. I found with my older son, that if he has his own music to listen to, with headphones, it relaxes him, and he is old enough to go turn on his music, and tune out everything else, until he feels better. My 5 year old relaxes to music as well. When he was an infant all that would calm him was the Phantom Of The Opera CD!!! Now I just hold him and we sing together. Sensory issues are hard to deal with because sometimes you don't know what will set your child off. I try my best to keep my kids out of these situations, but it will never be perfect. Keep up with the agency that is providing your son's OT. Hopefully soon they can find someone elso a bit less strange. It is also possible that the increase in bad behavior has to do with more demands being placed on your child as he grows older. ( and I don't mean unreasonable demands, but with kids that have these type of problems, it seems that the littlest bit extra can make their behavior worse, until they adapt.) Good luck with your son, and I hope I was able to help a little.

Hi T.:

As soon as I read your note, I felt I had to write you back because my son who is 4.5 years old has similar issues. It is not easy to deal with and it is a tough road but he is definitely getting better everyday. My suggestions are as follows: when your son feels overstimulated - provide deep conpressions (in other words - hold/hug him tightly) this should calm him down. Also when he is near a barking dog, for example, or a situation that upsets him, you have to remove him from the situation if you can. Try to redirect him so that you can change his focus. If you can change therapists, try to do so. I understand that you don't want to stop his services, and I agree with you, however, keep checking to see if a new therapist is available. We have been down this road since my son is 18 months and it took a lot of time and hard work - and a lot of tears ( on my part!!). My son is now so much better. As tough as it is, you have to be patient as this will take a lot of time. As long as you see progress, you should be happy. This doesn't change overnight. Also, when your son matures, he will get better as well. Do as much as you can with him to try to make things better for him. I researched a lot on the internet and brought up issues with my son's therapists.

Take care and things will get better!

Hi T.,

I have 2 kids who are developmentally delayed. My two children are receiving therapy in speech, occupational, and special needs. I can somewhat relate to how this is affecting you and your family. First and foremost if you are unsure about your therapist you need to get rid of them. In the long run your baby is the one that is affected. My suggestion to you is that you look for another agency that can provide the services that you are looking for. There is so much to say... if you would like you can call me at ###-###-#### and I can further explain myself.

I would recommend the books "the out of synch child" and "the out of synch child has fun" which deal with sensory processing issues. Also, look into "the listenting program" . Are you getting therapy through the school or privately?

My 3 year old is also receiving speech and OT... the speech is awesome. I've seen so much progress...then again she come 2days a weeks. The OT just started. My son has the sensory disorder and I too have seen things get worse. He eats next to nothing as far as solid foods, and since he's started with the OT he's down to eating even less. He too get's overstimulated and can't calm himself down to focus on anyone task. He jumps from toy to toy... we only make it thru about 5 min of a cartoon before he's up and tearing something else apart. The speech therapist recommended buying a large flat rubbermaid box and filling it with dry beans (pinto, black bean...etc.) and letting him play in it with small toys. I tell you... it's cheap and you can sweap the beans up and throw them out when they fall out of the box. My son will play for up to an hour with a shovel and other small toys to bury. When he's done with the "bean box" he's calm and easier to deal with.
His OT has him on a sensory based program but he won't cooperate for the OT. (We're on our second OT) I feel lost in what to do for him most days, when I'm too lazy to get the bean box out. What makes things even harder is that my husband is currently deployed... so I'm alone in dealing with this. His service coordinator and speech therapist have told me to stick with it and soon we'll see results. If you want to talk more in depth email me ____@____.com
Best Wishes,
T.

I have a 21 month old who is getting speech therapy, (or maybe it's just language therapy?) because he's not talking yet. To be honest, it doesn't seem to be helping, and sometimes afterwards he seems to backtrack to where he wont even say "mama." I was referred to the EIP program by the PA who saw him last, his doctor up and moved away, and this woman was very critical of my son. He was preemie, born at 33 weeks, and so far this is his only delay. The speech therapist seems to think he may have sensory issues too, but I don't think he does. But they're setting up an evaluation with an OT. I'm not really sure what you should do, except that I think you know what is best for your son and whatever you feel is right will ultimately be the best decision. This is my first response here, so please let me know if I did anything wrong. Thanks!

Call Linda(my mom) at Parenting Matters. She is very knowledgable about early intervention and she might be able to help. I am sure she would be more than happy to talk over the phone and give you her advice. It helps to always have another perspective on things. Give it a try. ###-###-####