Kids and therapies ( speech, OT etc)

[binny]

Does anyone else have kids in therapies that they would like to talk about?

My dd (4) is in speech and OT combined groups for the summer. Group is 1 1/2 hours twice a week. They have a few kids in the group and we have to leave them there ( the area is too small to have parents and siblings in there as well). If I didnt know the Speech therapist as well as I do I would be more hesitant but know she is in good hands.

Anyway, I just thought Id start a thread to see if anyone wanted to discuss approaches, frustrations, brags or anything else in the therapy realm.
Thought it might be good therapy for us as well

 

[BethanyF]

My son is going into 1st grade and is High Functioning Autistic (probably Aspergers). He also has Sensory Integration Dysfunction (Disorder). He is mild enough that the school provided therapy is usually suffecient.
His therapists and teachers give me plenty of tips and hints to get through non-school times.
BUT......his fine motor skills are really not improving. His pre-k OT used Handwriting Without Tears, but his Kindergarten OT doesnt use that system Did not make me happy and I have requested a new OT for next year.
Through pre-k he participated in Floor Time twice a week and once a week for the summer. He made some huge progress at that time.
For 1st grade he will be receiving OT, Speech (more to work on conversational skills and body language) and will spend time in a peer group with a social worker.
Ill be checking this thread on a regular basis...thanks for starting it.

 

[binny]

HI Bethany! Thanks for joining me
Karissa has SDI as well. Its a tough one isnt it? its so strange, sometimes something will bother her and then it wont the next time. Theres no way of telling how it will affect her on any given day.

You arent alone! There are many of us in the same boat! Thats why I started this, I wanted a thread where we come for advice and to just be there for each other.
WELCOME

 

[TEENEE]

My dd went to OT & PT for a couple years. She no longer needs either. Just wanted to pass on best wishes to all the kids and parents going through any kind of therapy. Sometimes it can be draining on the whole family. Keep up the good work. I know all of your kids will benefit from it.

 

[BethanyF]

SID is definitely a strange thing. Sam is starting to learn to handle some of it on his own, and he also able to predict if something will bother him.
When we were at MK in March, Pal Mickey starting talking about finding a seat for the parade. Sam flipped out and we had to leave the park. "But, Mommy, parades have spectacular music and I will have to cover my ears. I dont want to be here. We have to leave NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
His ear covering is actually joint pressure on his jaws. One of his many quirky coping strategies. He also can feel when he needs to body crash, so he goes in his room and wrestles with a bean bag chair.
The Aspergers makes him very obsessive. People will think its very cute to hear an almost 6 year old talking about Walt Disney's life in great detail....but I hear it constantly and dont think it is so cute anymore.
He wavers between being a slob and being obsessive about where certain things have to be put away, and how they get put away. Heaven help the person that puts a trivia card in the box upside down.
He likes rules and regulations, so we have lots of written rules in the house. If it is written down it seems more important to him so he will do whatever it is.
More later Im sure.

 

[s&k'smom]

Hi gang, thanks for the thread.

My Sam is mildly autistic, in OT, S/L, adaptive phys ed, sees the social worker in the social group, part of day in typical first grade (going into 2nd YEAH) then the learnig center which is a small self contained classroom). May be bi-polar, OCD, SI. He sees a neurologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, pediatrician. He is a fantastic kid who has made more strides than anyone imagined!

Kerry is heading into S/L preschool classroom in July.

Unfortunately both my kids inherited their mother's big mouth!!

I love to brag about my kids and thank God everyday they are in the therapies they are.

PS mommy had a happy prescription thanks to her psychiatrist

 

[kejoda]

Hi! I'm Beccy. My son John is mentally retared, mild to moderate. He will be 7 next Friday and is going into the first grade. Right now John is going to the Courage Center once a week for speech and OT therapy. I drop him off and pick him up 11/2 hour later. He loves it there and we have been going for almost 4 years now. John also started t-ball last week and is now running the bases by himself!!!!!

Right now were just trying to get John to learn his abcs. We have about 1/3 to 1/2 down. If we don't keep up with it he loses it quickly so no summer break for him.

 

[padams]

DS #2 is going into 1st grade and is doing ST for articulation issues. He started a few months ago, and is making progress. He also did some OT as a toddler for SID. He still has some SID issues but not enough to continue therapy, and he has certainly outgrown/overcome a lot of it.

DS#1 (going into 3rd grade) did OT for fine motor skills between pre-k and kindergarten. His school used HWT in pre-k, and he did HWT with the OT. In kindergarten, his class was taught d'nealian. In 1st grade, the school decided to use HWT, and so DS had to switch back again. His printing is still not perfect, but he is working on it. He was frustrated this past year when his math answers were marked wrong because his teacher couldn't read his writing. Even though his school doesn't start cursive until 3rd grade, I bought him the HWT cursive program to do at home. He seems to have an easier time with the cursive.

Pamela

 

[binny]

Hi there welcome S&K and Teenee!
Thanks for the input lol at the happy presription

Bethany, does your ds have a chewy tube?

Karissa grinds her teeth so badly that we bought her a chewy tube and that gives her the feedback shes looking for.
http://www.beyondplay.com/ITEMS/T290.HTM

This really helped with that feedback that she sought.

Thats great that he knows when he needs to crash. Karissa is just learning that. I made her a lap blanket thats weighted and she uses that when needs to.
How old is your ds?

 

[binny]

Hi Beccy and Pamela!

 

[BethanyF]

Bethany, does your ds have a chewy tube?

several different chewies actually. We tried the tube for a while, he didnt like it. Then one of his ot's gave him one that looked like an Oreo cookie. He liked that one and used it until he chewed off all the white part.
I actually have found a couple brands of latex free dog chews that seem to last longer than any child one. He really only uses it at home or in the car so I dont have to deal with the 'looks' when people seeing him chewing a plastic dog bone, LOL.
He is allowed to keep something at school with him, so he keeps koosh balls in his backpack and on the teacher's desk. If they notice him getting more fidgety than usual, they give him the koosh to either chew on or fiddle with. Its better than chewing on pencils.

How old is your ds?

He will be 6 on July 30. THe pic in my siggy is from March of this year.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Well we did have little ds in speech for 6 months. His language delay was 18 months and they refused to let him go to regular kind. I also refused to go through my school district as they said he had to see a psychologist, at 3, no thank you. My nice hmo paid for alot of the visits and we gave up our vacation that year to pay for the rest. I took him to the local hospital which has the best reputation around here and he had one on one with a therapist. I asked to sit in on all the sessions. The whole family was doing everything he did at school. Reinforcement of skills learned was 24/7. I even had his teacher come to sit in on a session. The therapist told me he was about the most cooperative kid she ever had and that made it work great. She only rewarded him with stickers etc. She thought he might have some autistic tendencys, but now that he is growing we do see some obsessive/compulsive stuff, like water and math. Sometimes I just say, you are getting obsessive now. At school I told the teacher and each one handles it her own way, like time to stop, etc. Yes, I heard you etc. Right now there is a little autistic boy in our church nursery who we get to watch about once every 6 weeks, I feel so bad as the parents are in such denial, never reinforce anything, take anything you try to say as an insult etc. The child is 4, non verbal, no age appropriate skills, no eye contact except with parents, no sense of fear or danger. I feel this little one could be helped so much by positive reinforcement and repition of skills learned etc. I tried to share with her about our ds, but it goes on deaf ears. I called their house once and heard her son screaming, they just basically ignore him. So sad, Hang in there moms. Even a little progress is such a joy and treasure for your kids.

 

[padams]

Hi Mary Poppins- We also refused to go through DS' school for ST because they would have him consult with a psychologist. I just didn't want to go down that road. The school is very quick to recommend therapies, etc. Our HMO is also paying for most of DS's ST. I feel lucky at the moment. DS loves his ST. She really is a lot of fun. He doesn't realize that he's working hard with her.
Pamela

 

[jennyl772003]

My son had OT, PT and vision therapy last year due to his low vision. For the parents who are put off be having your children see the psychologist, it really isn't what you think. All they do is interact a little with the child and talk to the parents. At least in my experiences. My son first saw the psychologist when he was 3. In my experiences, the psychologist acts more as a liason between all the different therapies and the parents, teachers, etc.

Next year in 1st grade, my son will only have VT 2 days a week for the first quarter, then only one day, and he has graduated from either OT or PT (can't remember which, I know it is Miss Cindy because she is very upset that she will not be seeing him next year) for the time being. He will probably resume when he is a little older, but for now he is pretty close to his age level.

 

[BethanyF]

Originally posted by jennyl772003
For the parents who are put off be having your children see the psychologist, it really isn't what you think. All they do is interact a little with the child and talk to the parents. At least in my experiences. My son first saw the psychologist when he was 3. In my experiences, the psychologist acts more as a liason between all the different therapies and the parents, teachers, etc.

I love the school psychologist we have. She does just like you described...works as the case manager/liason. She did visit him in the classroom once a week just to observe his progress. She also came in handy during a couple meltdowns.
She has a quiet office to bring the kids to if they cant function in the group setting. I think she only needed to remove him 2 or 3 times all year.
All of the removals were to help him handle his fear of kindergarten ending. One time, she took him on a tour of the 1st grade area, showed him where the classrooms were, the bathrooms, water fountains, etc. It helped ease Sam's fear. He realized he wasnt going to be far from what he knows and loves (his kindergarten teacher).
Another removal was when he refused to do his number writing telling the staff 'I wont do this so I can stay in kindergarten again next year." Mrs D took him to her office where she was able to calm him down and get him to do the needed work.
She was also beneficial in my request for getting a new OT next year as well as getting Sam placed in the classroom best for him. Sometimes having a 'professional' back up a parent's request helps quite a bit.

 

[disneyelaine]

My son (7) chews up the collars of his shirts. Mostly in stressful situations. He won't use chewy's. I guess it's his coping mechanism?? Some school days, his shirt would be soaked!

This summer we have private speech, private OT, Farm Social Skills Group/OT, private reading tutor & the school Speech Therapist is seeing him 1 hr per week for 5 weeks. We do all the other therapies 1 time per week for 1 hr.

Last spring/summer we did a Lindamood Bell Program, which I believe contributed to my son's great 1st grade year. I'd send him there every summer, but it is so darn expensive!

My son's main issue is speech (apraxia) and ASD. I do the educational tutoring mainly as a precaution since he is "at risk." My reasoning is since his speech is such a issue & could possibly bring his self esteem down later.....well I want to make sure he feels confident in his educational areas.

Our school psychologist mainly just does educational testing. He's been right on target so far....No complaints there. We get a private evaluation & compare scores, opinions etc...for comparisons.

Driving/going to all these therapies have been draining at times, but I can not even imagine where we'd be if we(he) didn't work this hard! He is such a trooper, as I know your kids must be too!

 

[HollyJoy]

My youngest DD (4 1/2) is in Speech therapy. She doesn't have any major problem though. What she does is replaces some of her consonants with other sounds. Those like "S", "G", "F" and "TH" get replaced with hard sounds like "D" and "T". She's been going for a few months now, and it's really helped her!

 

[binny]

wow there are a lot of us in the same boat.

Lets keep this bumped up so we can support each other through the summer.


Thanks everyone!

 

[s&k'smom]

Hollyjoy I just have to tell you how beautiful your daughters are. What a wonderful picture.

Excellent idea to keep bumping, binny.

 

[dizny4us]

Hi Everyone!
This is a great thread! My DS 11 has SID and Asperger's. He was just diagnosed about 10 mos ago. He has been treated for ADHD since he was 8. He has an hour of therapy a week and he's on a waitlist for OT at the Dan Marino center. DS has many of the same idiosyncracies that some of you described. He picks apart pencils, his clothes, anything that is in his hands at the moment. He becomes quite obsessive as well. Right now it's Digimon and lego robots, before that it was YuGiOh and video games, well it's always video games but he isn't always allowed to play them since they tend to overwhelm him! When we go to Disney, he basically keeps his ears covered the whole time! His therapist had just recommended a chewy for him the other day. It is comforting to hear what others are doing! Thank you for starting this thread!