Occupational Therapy- Visits 1 & 2

I have come to realize something about Percy’s Occupational therapy visits… he is not the only one receiving therapy.  The appointments also are geared towards helping me find ways to help him.  You wouldn’t think that would be a problem, right?  Well, in order to help facilitate his improvement I am supposed to be more organized and structured.  Heaven help me.   

Okay, for you newbies to this site I will set the stage again.  My son has a severe speech delay, some behavioral issues, and doesn’t respond normally to sensory input.  He is a horrendously picky eater (only eats crunchy food), avoids slimy things, and doesn’t process auditory input like other children (he can hear fine, but doesn’t look up for loud noises).  I am concerned that he displays signs of being on the Autism Spectrum.  In February (or was it January? It’s all a blur) we had an assessment performed via Early Intervention.  He presented with some atypical development and significant enough delays that he qualified for therapy- partially paid for by the state, as well as by medical insurance, and we as parents pay the difference.  My son now receives Occupational Therapy twice per month.

When we began this process I had a vision in my head of what this therapy was supposed to be.  Someone would come to my house with a big bag of toys and GIVE him his therapy while I lounged on the couch observed.  I pictured instructional play that helped stimulate his senses, and maybe they would teach me a few coping strategies to incorporate, as I saw fit, into my disordered day.  Turns out that was more how Speech Therapy would be, and during our first Occupational Therapy visit there wasn’t even time for much therapy at all!  Our therapist (let’s call her OT Lady) was not given much information from the County about our son’s assessment so she had to start from scratch and get to know him- NOT her fault.  Neither of us were happy about it- what a waste of everyone’s time.  Yaay for red tape (insert sarcasm here).  So we filled out a Sensory Profile AGAIN and talked about his behavior & responses for a long time.  It was basically an evaluation all over again.  She left me with these things to work on -

• Keep trying new foods.  But place on his plate only “1 or 2 small pieces of a food he might not like”
• “Let him use fork/spoon”
• “Try open cup with a small amount of water”
• Use an egg timer to help increase the amount of time he spends sitting at the table, starting with 5 minutes
• “Introduce tactile play mixing a texture he likes with something he may not like (i.e. slimy toy in dried rice)”

During the second visit we discussed the results of the Sensory Profile.  Percy has a “definite difference” in Auditory Processing and also Oral Sensory Processing.  In Tactile Processing there is a “probable difference”.  Then she brought out a small soft plastic brush- looks like the kind you get for babies in the hospital- and taught me how to systematically brush his skin to help stimulate his senses and satisfy his VORACIOUS sensory appetite.  (you can read more about the theories behind brushing and the technique on this website).   The concept is that this brushing helps calms children down because the over-sensitive children get more used to the stimulation, and the under-sensitive children get the input they need and don’t have to run around trying to find it.  That would be Percy.  He is always stomping and banging and mouthing and touching.  This should help him not have such a great need for that self-stimulating, and often disruptive,  behavior.  It would hopefully also decrease his aggression and frustration.  The brushing is followed by compressions and also some sort of “heavy work”, a resistance activity like lifting or pulling.  This gives his joints and muscles deep stimulation.  OT Lady told me that if I do some compressions and heavy work before an activity where Percy is needed to be more calm or still I might find that he is less aggressive and more compliant.  GREAT!, I thought. 

And then I found out that I was supposed to do this EVERY. TWO. HOURS.  Every day. 

I was instantly overwhelmed by this new reality…  It turns out I was the one who was supposed to give Percy his therapy.  And in order to do it I was supposed to have a schedule (a what?).  You need to understand something about me.  I am NOT a structured person.  I spend the day just trying to keep up with my two “not boring” boys and keep them from bodily harm.  My life is kinda chaotic and I am usually tired and often overwhelmed.    We live by general guidelines for a routine, NOT by a schedule.  If we feel like eating, we eat, if we feel like playing, we play (although I will say I am good about a regular naptime, but that is mostly because I so desperately need a break!).  And guess what… that is exactly the kind of environment that children who have developmental delays DON’T need, but more on that later.   So if you tell a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of gal that she needs to make time every two hours to STOP EVERYTHING and sit and brush her child you might as well be telling a bee to stop buzzing.  It ain’t natural. 

Plus, I confess, I was skeptical at first as to whether this brushing thing is even effective.  In searching the internet (which is always true, lol) I have found mixed reviews.  Some laud the benefits of the brushing therapy, some call it quackery.  But I wanted to at least give it a try and see what happened… though in hindsight I had already set myself up for failure with my attitude.  OT Lady left us with our little brush and said she would be back in two weeks to check our progress.

I wanted to do it, I really did.  The first day started off pretty well, although Percy giggled and squirmed like it tickled.  But he did seem to enjoy it and find it soothing.  The heavy work was a little more difficult because there were so many other things attracting his attention.  Often only the brushing part got done.  And then I started to forget to do the brushing.  Or I would remember in the middle of doing something else and resolve to do it in just a minute.  I dreaded facing the next Occupational Therapy appointment knowing that I was not consistently doing my part to help his therapy succeed.  I realized, with much shame, that I had barely been brushing Percy at all. 

Suddenly two weeks were over and it was time for OT Lady to come visit us again…

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TO BE CONTINUED…   

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