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Need advice about Occupational Therapy???

Paulette - posted on 02/02/2010 ( 6 moms have responded )

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My son has just turned 6, he has only been recently diagnosed and is high functioning most of the time. He has been seeing a Psychologist and Speech Pathologist and we have seen some slight improvements in his behaviour and expressive language. We have just received a grant to help out with some more therapies and it was suggested we try an Occupational Therapist. Anyway I contacted a lady who came out to the house to do an O/T assessment. She advised me that it would take an hour but she preferred if I did not sit in because she felt that children reacted differently around their parents. So I left them alone in a room with the doors closed while I entertained my other 2 children. At the end of about 50 minutes they emerged from the room and my son immediately ran outside. I quickly spoke to the therapist before she left and she said that she would prepare a report with what she recommended and would email me a copy in a couple of days and she would then contact me to discuss it. Of course it has now nearly been a week and I haven't received any report nor heard from her again.



My biggest concern however is the reaction my son had from the O/T assessment. As I already mentioned he has been having other therapies and he has seemed to enjoy them however after the O/T left he just ran around the house inside and out continuously for 2 hours grunting. He was extremely distressed and nothing we said or did seemed to help. Anyway a couple of days later when he was being calm I asked him if he like "Megan" (the O'T) he immediately looked away and started grunting and refused to speak. My son has seen alot of doctors, therapists, teachers etc and he has never had this kind of reaction to any adult before. Anyway after a little while he finally said he didn't like her because she touched him and he then touched my arm, which I assume was his way of describing to me what happened. I again thought this was very strange as he has never complained of people touching him before. So I asked him why he didn't like it and he said that the teacher at school had told them they weren't to touch each other. I did ask his teacher but she said she may have said that to a couple of other children but it was never directed at my son.



I guess I am just a bit confused and worried about the reaction my son seemed to have to his O/T session. Is this just a normal response to this particular type of therapy? Is that the idea behind the therapy to completely stress them? Is it the norm that the parents are not involved and don't know what is going on during the session? Sorry for my ignorance but my son and I have only had positive experiences so far with other therapies but my son seems to have regressed after the O/T session and he was completely uncontrollable for 2 hours.



Please let me know what your experiences have been as I am a bit freaked out by my son's reaction. Thanks for listening :)

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6 Comments

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Melanie - posted on 02/03/2010

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My son has PDD-NOS. He was fortunate enough to have a wonderful O/T through his school. He did not seem to enjoy it at first, but it was simply because he did not like change in his routine. After we added O/T time to his daily schedules, he started opening up more and embracing the change. It may be that your son didn't care for the change in his routine and is not used to it yet. My son's O/T greatly improved his fine motor skills and after the semester, he didn't need it anymore.

Sheila - posted on 02/03/2010

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Hi Paulette,

I was in the room for the first six months of OT...or so, hard to remember...it was at an office but the OT room is like a "rumpus room!" Anyways, before the first session, our OT said, he might not like this at the beginning, and you might not like it either...let me know if you think we are going too far, but trust me. He was three.

When we made my "break" I could sit in the room on the other side of the rumpus room, with a two way mirror to watch and a speaker to listen in.

There have been some sessions where he gets uncomfortable, but she has the ability to "bring him back." She knows how to push, how far to push...I would trust her with my son any time. She has saved his life as far as I am concerned.

I am wondering if she did compressions? My son's therapy sessions begin with joint compressions (which he loves) and brushing....but maybe this upset your son and he had a negative sensory experience.

Did she interview you? Our OT does a parental interview that takes between an hour to an hour and a half AND you get about six pages of detailed questions to fill out.

I would look for an OT that has a "rumpus" room. Only because, for our son, so much of what she does involves the use of swings, balance boards, hammocks...AND she specializes in working with children.

The fit has to be there. We were extremely fortunate that our first match was truly a perfect fit....she also came highly recommended by numerous parents.

Sheila

Christine - posted on 02/03/2010

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Hi Paulette, my son has autism (high functioning) and when my son has had home occupational therapy I have been in the room during the assessment and all other occupational therapy sessions. The occupational therapy sessions were once a month for about 1.5 hours. My son really enjoyed the activities the occupational therapist gave and I saw improvement in his fine and gross motor skills.

My suggestion in your case is to speak someone in a hire authority position (Manager or Human Resources Manager) or her boss and CONFIDENTIALLY. I would NOT speak to the occupational therapist directly. To me it does not make sense your son's reaction. In addition, what bothers me is that your occupational therapist should have explained to you why your son was so upset and given better feedback to you on the activities she did with him. My opinion is always trust your gut and do not give up on occupational therapy as it does make a difference in fine and gross motor skills.

Carrie - posted on 02/03/2010

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My son attends O/T with me present and he hates it and gets really stressed, she touchs him a lot (not inappropriatly) its to desensitize him, as some autistic don't like to be touched. Worth the stress though my son's eye contact has greatly improved and he is great now with different textures.

Sonia - posted on 02/03/2010

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Your letter really got me thinking, I have found that my son likes people who have brown eyes, straight hair, no braces and are not old. Your son may have not liked something about her, may be as simple as she had a smell, sound of her voice, eye colour, hope you can see where I'm going with this. I didn't figure mine out until after, always wish I new sooner...hope it helps...always found a solution to a problem helps lots..

Sonia - posted on 02/02/2010

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As a mum, you will know when somethings not right. I would be pushing for the results and asking lots of questions. Got to say though you have freaked me out as well, it's no fun when they go backwards. You really need to find out what caused that reaction. My son only reacted badly when he got pushed too far or was really scared. My son for a long time didn't like eyes, on toys on pictures on anything, once they were gone he then relaxed. My experience with OT's has been good, never left him alone with one though, so I hope you find an answer...good luck!

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