Why Occupational Therapy with Speech?

My DS has had speech therapy for two years now...one of the things the therapists recommended was he get OT so he could be better about using his newfound speech.

When kids can't articulate their thoughts they tend not to interact with other kids for fear of not being understood. With OT, they learn the skills necessary to interact with their peers, as they learn how to articulate clearly.

Goals included: initiating contact with other kids and going back and forth 2-3 times in their interaction. Sharing toys. Participating in circle time...that sort of thing. Make sense?

GL! t's made a world of difference for DS :)

Who are "They" the school or ECI?

OT is about motor, senosry, and perceptual skills and function. Just that your child has an articulation disorder means that they have had some misfire in understanding what to do with thier body to develop typically. Children do not need to have some major diagnosis to get benefit from intervention, and if you are dealing with a school based evaluation, they are not there to make a diganosis anyway. Diagnostics are private matters, sought out through evaluation with qualified doctors and therapists.

Why was you child evaluated in the first place?

If any state agency (meaning you are not paying for this) recomended a service to you for your child, take it. It is the least your child needs, because that is all the state is required to give you. School and ECI services are there to make your child functional in the school setting.

Your goals, as a parent, should always be to maximize your child's development so that they have meaninful choices in thier lives that are not limited by disablities. The specifics of need, related to OT, would be dicated by your child's evaluation data. Unfortunately, state services will never be fully in line with your goals as a parent, no matter what the evaluation data says. Ask your therapists why they think your child needs OT, and if there is any posiblity that there is a diagnosis to be had, get a private evaluation, own it, and supplement all the state services you recieve with private services that bring your child beyond functional, to maxium potential.

Make sure that you are right before you reject assistance. Many high functioning children have significant issues that need theraputic serivices. The sooner you get them, the better off your child will be. Find out exactly why before you blow this off.

M.

go online and look up motor skill benchmarks for three year old. See what average benchmarks you child has or has not met. There must be some skills your child doenst have or they wouldnt be wasting state resources on OT. pick a few skills you think are important, like buttoning, putting on socks, putting on a jacket, hanging up a jacket, going up stairs one foot on each step, drawing an x,there must be something...

If your child is three, then he/she should have a written document called an IESP (Individualized Educational Services Plan) that was generated in a meeting with you present. You should have a report from both the speech therapist and the OT indicating your child's strengths and areas in need of development in addition to the IESP.

OT can be prescribed for any number of reasons, but primarily for: fine motor delays, visual-motor delays, sensory processing delays or attending difficulties. Speech delays are often early indicators of varying delays, but because language skills are more overt, we see delays there first. A full evaluation of your child must have revealed other areas in need of development.

Please call your school district and request a copy of your child's service plan. This is what the OT is requesting. If you are unclear as to why your child has OT, you can reach-out to whomever chaired your child's Initial Referral meeting and ask them to explain it to you in more detail.

I have always suggested to parents that they start a notebook or expandable file for their children who have special education services. The notebook should contain "tabs" for:
- Evaluations
- IEP/IESP
- Report Cards and IEP Goal updates
- Notes/Minutes from Meetings
- Questions/follow-up

Keep the notebook in chronological order b/c you will need to reference prior assessments regularly and this way you have it all in one place!

my child only had speech... ASK why?? get the answers you want.. good luck

O.T. is for gross and fine motor skills. Does your child trip a lot? If so, that would fall under gross motor skills. Does your child have a hard time holding a crayon and drawing? That would be fine motor skills.

I totally agree with Sarah on how Occupational Therapy works with and for the body. It has to do with the core strength of the body and this can effect many things including speech. You do need to talk to the Occupational therapist and ask specifically what they will be doing for your child.and how they feel this will help. My children receive all services and I make sure I am aware of what they all mean by looking in books (library a great resource) and going online. It is not unusual for a child of 3 to receive speech therapy and just talking to your child as one person indicated does not always help with speech delays.. The other person that commented on if your child trips a lot, that is not an indication whether or not you child needs Occupational therapy either. We in addition to the in school services had done private services in the summer and there was a team of 2 people automatically that worked with the kids. 1 speech and 1 Occupational therapist. They did things like having them wheelbarrel walk, balamce on a ball on their tummy, crawl over a maze of pillows and many other things, They did the OT first and then the Speech. last. Just know that there is nothing wrong with your child receiving services because anything we can do to help kids to develope to their best ability is great. Good luck and God bless

Occupational therapy works with different systems in the body to help organize the way the body works. It has been a couple of years since my daughter was in speech and OT and I only remember vestibular system, but there are others, too. My daughter started speech when she was 18 mos and ended just this spring when she turned 5. It took almost a year and a half for someone to wonder if her delayed speech indicated she needed OT. Within a couple of weeks of starting OT, she started talking. After months and months of weekly speech and at-home activities, the seemingly simple therapies, including brushing, wheelbarrow walk, rolling a weighted ball on her, and joint compressions, triggered a speech explosion. The connection is convoluted and somewhat amazing, but it is there. Now, at age 5 1/2, she is considered within normal range for speech, social, and physical development and no longer has an IEP. I would say your goals should encompass self-awareness and gains in articulation. With the OT, it will help your child become more confident and balanced and just might help that speech. Hope you have great success with it!

Why would a 3 year old need occupational or speech therapy. If you talk to your child, the child will learn its speech from you. If there's a hearing issue, that would make a difference and therefore speech therapy would be an idea.
But a 3 year old? Sounds a bit young for anyone to be pushing therapy on.

My son had speach and occupational therapy - he had hypotonia (low muscle tone) ...we had goals like increase jaw strenghth...lessen mouth breathing, increase abiltiy to suck and eat harder textured foods (raw carrots, crackers, etc).