my son is 3yrs & 2 mnths & is getting a special day class 3x/wk for 3 hrs in the school district. also getting OT fr school district, but just indirect services for 1 hr/mnth. OT will only give consult to the special ed teacher 1x/mnth & that's it.

did any of you go private & did most of the ot at home? i'm thinking of maintaining my private OT 2x/mnth for my son's current issues & in case i see other obstacles in the future. i get ideas from our private ot since i observe the therapy sessions & i get direct consultation from her. right now, most of his ot drills, i practically do at home.

my other question is, are the tactile & oral defensiveness, attention span sensory issues really hard to overcome? how long did it take for your kids to overcome these concerns?

liza

A lot of what is "overcome" really depends on the child. I had 2 boys in OT for sensory issues who are really just completely different from each other and yes, one really has seemed to overcome his issues and no longer needs OT. The other has made some leaps and bounds, but continues to struggle with some sensory issues and it getting OT through the school district 1 hr/week as well as some ST and some social work support.

My OVERCOMER:

He was totally tactile defensive - wouldn't touch LOTS of things and would freeze - screaming - holding his hands up in the air if he got even a speck of dirt on them. He also had serious oral defensiveness and would only eat crunchy or completely pureed foods up until well past 18 months of age. We had at least 4-5 meal meltdowns/week (if not 7-10) and 1-2 vomiting episodes/week while eating. Sometimes he would melt down at the sight of food, throwing his entire plate, etc. We never had attention span issues with him.

He had OT through Early Intervention 1X/week, plus I continued working all week with him as well. It made absolutely the WORLD of difference with him. After 6 month of OT, he had made leaps/bounds of progress. We continued with the therapy until he aged-out and you would never know he had issues. He is still a picky eater, don't get me wrong. But we don't have meltdowns at the sight/smell of food. He doesn't vomit with certain textures. He still likes clean hands, but he can handle dirty/slimy things and then calmly ask me for a napkin to clean up. He can now color and finger paint. He can now play on the park equipment (had some issues with that before that I chalked up to being "cautious", but were really sensory).

Now, my OTHER son who is still getting OT is just a mystery. His sensory issues seem to morph and change over time. While he was a "sensory seeker" banging and crashing in to things, ate EVERYTHING including non-food items when we started therapy, he now seems to be more of an "avoider" and is now the pickiest eater ever. He seems to have given up meat altogether, although he does not melt down at the sight of it. He used to have night terrors 3-4x/week, which are now virtually gone. He is getting much better with language skills. Vocabulary has always been good, he just doesn't use it when he needs to all of the time.

He has learned to tell me a noise is TOO LOUD and to cover his own ears if it bothers him - rather than screaming. But he still is bothered by a lot of "normal" sounds. My fear was that the school district wouldn't do anything for him as he has plenty of pre-academic skills. I am lucky that I had a very conservative evaluator and she could see his problems and how they might interfere with learning. For instance, he will run from toy to toy to toy in a strange/loud/chaotic environment (like preschool!) - seeming not to be able to pay attention. The interesting thing is, if I talk with him about what the teacher was teaching HOURS later, he can recite the song or indicate in some other way, that he actually WAS paying attention/learning while bouncing off the walls.

Where he used to not be able to sit at the dinner table for more than 3 minutes without being strapped down, he now is my best sitter of the 3. He no longer stuffs his mouth while eating either.

I am starting to think he will always have some sensory issues, and "overcoming" for him is going to mean having coping strategies that he can apply himself as he gets older. He is a unique individual and the term "quirky kid" definitely applies! He is a happy kid, though, and very empathetic to others and always wanting to help, so that is great. And I personally think he is smart as a whip (but then I am his mother - LOL!) He also seems to have great recall for rhythms and for melodies, so I'm hoping that translates into math later on!

BBB born 7/26/04 at 35 weeks

thanks for your reply. i'll keep my private ot since my son still has sensory issues & i get ideas to help him at home. he's got attention span issues, going fr toy to toy; oral & tactile defensivenes, food & diff textures; also cautious in play structures ...

how did you help him with the play structures? i'm exposing him to the park a lot so he gets used to it. how about the attention span re: jumping fr toy to toy?

btw, you gave birth to your sons a week or so after i gave birth. i also have 3 boys born 7/14/04; they are fraternal.

My boys are fraternal also! I thought about keeping our private OT, but since the school district said they would provide 1 hour/week of therapy in the classroom, I decided to go with that.

That attention span thing is TOUGH! Really, we just have to keep at it. He seems to get better as he gets older, but if it's a new environment with lots of stimulation, I just steel myself for that behavior and try to get down on his level to engage him with direct eye contact - if I have time and the other 2 are behaving, that is! The preschool teachers are great at it!

Our OT was great with the tactile defensiveness. She used games with rice, with shaving cream, slimy fingerpaints, with "rocks" hidden in therapy putty. She would get them really involved with a new toy and then "sneak" a tactile toy on to their bare feet to see how long they'd tolerate it. Really, she just built up their willingness to work with tactile toys/textures over the 15 month time span. In preschool, they do things with sand/sensory tables with all of the kids.

Oral defensiveness. We haven't made huge progress with this. My one who still gets therapy does love the electric toothbrush. But really, I can't make them eat and they are super picky about texture.

My one son who had problems with play structures. That was another long road and he is still more cautious than other kids - taking longer to try some new piece of equipment out - but eventually he will try it. He often says, "No, I will get hurt." The OT worked with him over the long haul of 15 months to get him to tolerate different body positions and do exercises to help out his vestilar senses. I guess body awareness in relation to surroundings is what they were working on. AND, we go to the park every day, sometimes twice and I always try to entice him on to the equipment but never force him. Sometimes he has to think a long time about it before he is willing to try it. Some days he seems fearless, other days he seems afraid to try anything.

BBB born 7/26/04 at 35 weeks