Questions About Occupational Therapy Options

[Tressa]

My 10 year old son has been referred to an occupational therapist for some motor delays that he has. It isn't anything serious, he just has some trouble with fine motor tasks like tying his shoes and writing and stuff like that. He will be going for an evaluation and I was just wondering if anyone knew what that entails? I don't want him to think that there is something wrong with him, because there really isn't. I would like it to be fun and I want to give him an idea of what to expect, but I have no idea. I think this could really help boost his confidence.

Thanks so much!

Tressa

[tagsfan]

Tressa,

I am a PT, however I don't work with kids much. The only thing I would add to what NYC Girl said is just to assure him that the eval is no big deal. They will have him do stuff that is really easy and stuff that is really hard. It is not because they expect him to do the really hard stuff perfectly...they just need to see what he can do and how he does it. A good OT should be able to make him feel comfortable and if she/he has experience with kids it will probably be fun for him.

This is just the little I know from long ago in my career, and from colleagues. The best thing to do would be to give the clinic a call ahead of time, to see if they can tell you how long the eval will take, what it will involve, if you will be able to be in the room the whole time, etc. They should be able to tell you enough to make him feel more comfortable.

Kerri

[Tressa]

Thank you! You have both helped me a lot!!

Tressa

[mom23]

We have a really fun OT for my 18 month old, who is going to learn to eat stage 3 babyfood and table food. She works with kids of all ages. I guess every therapy center is different, but the one we go to has gym mats in it, small stair steps, trapeeze bars, swings, a mini trampoline, and lots of cool balls in different shapes and sizes.

Since your son is pretty mature, you might suggest that everyone has sensory "issues". Like our OT could not handle sitting on the swing with the babies she worked with for the first few months she was there. I get overloaded on noise or touching velvet. The point of the therapy is to get used to these things enough to be able to enjoy everyday living.

I really don't think he will feel awkward after the initial visit. The therapy sessions are meant to be a little challenging, but fun. I sit in on every session, and even I have fun! For the home, you could check out the website www.beyondplay.com for things your son could use to improve in the fine motor area.

Good luck!

-Lisa

[sumi]

Lisa, it sounds like you are describing that your son ahs what we call in South Africa "Sensory defensiveness". I looked into that topic quite a bit and find it fascinating. I have a theory that sensory defensiveness, ADHD and even Autism are connected in some way to sensory integration issues. They are just levels of severity, in my opinion.

My ADD son definitely has sensory issues. Loud noises close to his ear make him lash out in irritation, for instance.

[Tiff]

Hi - I just wanted to echo what everyone has said here. My oldest had occupational therapy for almost a year. We also had a good experience with our therapist. She made it out to be child's play, which is really what it looked like to me. It's nothing like what most kids think of when they hear "doctor appointment" or "evaluation". My son responded very well.

[sumi]

I agree, Tressa, I have yet to meet an OT who didn't know how to put a patient at ease - it's part of their training.

[Tressa]

Just thought I would give a little update. My son went in today for his first appointment. It was for the physical therapist. I was a little confused, because I thought that it was going to be for OT. Anyway, it seems that my insurance approved the PT referral, but not the OT one. Well, he saw the physical therapist and everything is fine, just some coordination issues. But, she really felt that he needed to see the OT, as well. So, I will begin enquiring (or is it inquiring?) tomorrow. But, you all were right, she was great and my son felt very comfortable after the first 5 minutes.

[carmatlock]

Of my three kids at one point all 3 were getting OT. Now just the oldest gets OT and the youngest are getting speech and PT. Things are going well with the twins. They are a little off because of being premature. They say something for every week early they are born they are about a month off. Mine were 8 weeks early from my estimated due date. So they are really a wee bit regressed on walking and speech but think this will clear up soon. Now they are talking in almost complete sentences just hard to understand and I think this is normal.

My oldest has other probs on top of everything else. See post in Aspergers for 5 yo. I updated just tonight on the topic of my oldest son.

Thanks for being here and helping me thru this as well as all these others who are going thru similar things. You guys are the greatest.

Carmen

[dvigue]

I felt compelled to reply to this post since I myself am an Occupational Therapist who works with young children (Birth to Three) as well as balancing my homeschooling obligations. I see LOTs of kids with sensory processing issues, pervasive developmental disorder and developmental delays to name a few. An OT session should ALWAYS be fun for your children but yet challenging their skills.


There are lots of resources available now for parents if you ask your OT and I find that being homeschooled is so awesome because the integration of therapeutic practices can simply be added into your routine verses having kids feel awkward about getting "special services". It was one of my "clients" who educated me on the whole idea of homeschooling.

Keep up the great work ladies!