Tan. Poor little Hamish It's so saddening that even at such young ages, there are others who will take advantage of his condition (as it seems that this is what this little boy has been doing, and it's incredibly disturbing that his mother won't acknowledge his behaviour).
Heya girls! Sorry I haven't been around, been working heaps and I got sick while working... blah blah blah.
OT. Occupational Therapist. The kind our children generally see are paediatric sensory OT's. To get a good one, you need one that understands Spectrum issues as well as SPD (sensory processing disorder). If they don't know what SPD is.... move on.
88% of kids on the Spectrum have SPD. All of their issues with SPD are different, some kids only have one area, others have different ones and sometimes they have them all.
Pre-OT Matilda was 4 years old and screaming 3 hours a day and having meltdowns where we had to physically restrain her and escaping once or twice daily and running away. Matilda is now 6 and after 18 months of OT it is rare for her to have a full meltdown. I can happen maybe once or twice a month and she doesn't run anymore at all. I can now go to the toilet and shower without dead bolting the house. The OT helps them learn how to cope with their sensory issues, and has helped Matilda learn how to teach her body to calm down when she gets upset.
When Matilda got anxious, she would breath shallowly and almost hyperventilate when she was winding up for a meltdown. The OT taught her how to take deep breaths by doing exercises and games with bubbles and races with those blow toys... (think party noise makers). She gave us a listening tool to help Matilda cope with different noises (AMAZING!!) and gave us exercises to train Matilda's body to hold urine and be able to make it to the toilet.
I know that was just a peek into what we do with the OT, but I thought I'd write it out for you all
Oh Tan my heart breaks for him I hope his hands are okay.
Lilima, the ipod touch is an awesome idea, I have known quite a few spectrum families who have gotten them on funding. I haven't tried yet, but I will
OMG Tan, I feel sick reading about what those monsters did to Hamish. To me THEY need some psychiatric help, I am a teacher and that kind of behaviour is disturbing in the extreme. Normal children do not encourage other children to do things which will harm them.
Will come back later and write more about OTs too!!
Christy - youalways have awesome information to share.
Nelle - How is Riv going with Spath? What are they hoping to achieve for him in OT?
I hope everyone else is going well.
I am still not feeling the best about everything. I really want to pull him out of this EI and find something else, but as we are semi rural, the options are limited. I think because I have anxiety, I just make the whole thing worse for J.
I got a report back from our psych yesterday. She has written it in fairly strong terms to ensure we can access the maximum school aide funding....but it's still fairly confronting to read.
Well... we are about to have a quirky kid meet up tomorrow at my house!! If anyone else with one of our super kids is in Sydney, you are more than welcome, we will be meeting up at my house from 11am so PM me & I'll give you details in the morning
Us... well we have a friend who is 11 and spends every Wed after school at our house. She has issues. Her mum is over it, over being yelled at constantly and having a child who is explosive. She said she wanted to rehome her daughter but her ex husband wouldn't agree to it, he thinks there is nothing wrong with T. I adore T. Yes, she is definately quirky. Yes, she has issues, but I love her. I have her a few days a week during school holidays, I have her one arvo a week after school and I have volunteered a bedroom for her if her mum needs a break.
Anyway, I suggested to her mum that she go to our OT because she was over the explosions. I said, if anything the OT can help T learn how to physically calm herself down. but her mum is really on the edge. I love T and I hate to see this happen to them. Anyway, she went to our OT and phoned me afterwards. She said "OMG... I walked in and she knew T. She knew all about the way T works. I don't understand, I read about SPD and it doesn't make sense, she's not like that but I don't know." I explained that T has learned coping mechanisms in her world, and when she gets home she explodes with mum because mum is the one consistent thing for her, the one with unconditional love so T can relax herself.
Tonight I took T through some OT stuff... we talked about exercises that would help her. She said she didn't want to scream at her mum, and her mum cried. Their next appt with our OT isn't until next November, so I showed some exercises that the OT asked I show to them. T promised me she would do it. So we shall see. I told her the next time she came over I would check and see if she had, because she has 0 core strength and I would know.... I feel a bit over my head doing this for someone else, as I am NOT an OT, but I did as the OT asked me to do, exactly what she asked me to do (she sent me a letter). So hopefully we will see a corner turn for T. She is supposed to go to high school next year, but I can't see how she can do that. She's one of those who would turn to drugs etc because she just doesn't feel right within herself, ykwim? I just don't want to see that....
Anyway... M had a tough day today, we had a play date prior to T coming over, and that always sets M off.
Oh Lilima I don't know. We only had speech for 6 months, which really helped, but it was only a short term service so we're on the wait list for EI, might get in Dec or Jan. OT seems to have finished, we had maybe 3-4 sessions? I'm not any wiser, except that Riv has low registration and emotional sensory issues...I got an email from the OT asking if I had any questions. I'm not sure if it's okay to say 'yeah I do, what did all those appointments mean and what do I do now?'. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.....I never even got our Paed report...
What other options do you think there might be Lilima? What do you think J needs? xo
Sounds like you were able to be a big help Christy! I really hope some of this stuff helps T to find ways to manage.
Lu I bet it was confronting, but I reckon that could be a pretty powerful report in terms of opening doors and finding support. xo
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Tan. Poor little Hamish
It's so saddening that even at such young ages, there are others who will take advantage of his condition (as it seems that this is what this little boy has been doing, and it's incredibly disturbing that his mother won't acknowledge his behaviour).
but her mum is really on the edge. I love T and I hate to see this happen to them. Anyway, she went to our OT and phoned me afterwards. She said "OMG... I walked in and she knew T. She knew all about the way T works. I don't understand, I read about SPD and it doesn't make sense, she's not like that but I don't know." I explained that T has learned coping mechanisms in her world, and when she gets home she explodes with mum because mum is the one consistent thing for her, the one with unconditional love so T can relax herself.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh.....I never even got our Paed report...
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