Occupational Therapy - Helpful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I took him in for an autism evaluation. Mainly for behavioral issues - frequent tantrums, difficulty transitioning between certain activities, extremely active, obsession with trains/cars, etc. He was seen by an OT, SLP, and a neurodevelopmental pediatrician during the evaluation.

No speech/language issues. But his energy and level of activity was very apparent. Here are some of the issues noted:

- has a need to touch everything and everyone
- has little sense of danger; will run ahead of us (parents), or try to jump and climb playground equipment in inappropriate ways
- loves to crash, bounce into things
- constantly climbing on furniture, etc
- loves to be swung high, tossed into the air
- carries around a little car in one or both hands almost all of the time when we're out and about. It's almost like a security blanket for him

The OT noticed that his fine motor skills were less developed -- does not like to draw, color, etc. and is easily frustrated with a fork

Potty training has been a completely nightmare. Does not tell us when he has to go, and doesn't seem bothered by being wet (but will tell us that we need to change him after he poops).

Some of the tantruming behaviors have improved since the evaluation, but the other "sensory seeking" behaviors have not changed. We are particularly concerned about his need to touch everything and everyone. We've talked to him repeatedly about personal space and things, but it's just not sinking in. He can't seem to help himself.

Sounds a lot like my son, and OT has helped us enormously. He also has speech and social deficits. FWIW, he was not initially diagnosed as being on the spectrum (first eval was at age three), but was later diagnosed at age four.

Also, how did the OT help?

14:25 here. The difference in the evals from three to four were largely my son's ability to demonstrate his behaviors to the evaluator. As he got older, the quirks became more clearly delineated from normal behavior. Our first dev psych was hesitant to dx him at three years old because as some previous posters have indicated, those behaviors CAN be normal and simply a phase. A year later, it was harder to dismiss them so easily.

Our OT has been helpful in helping our son to self-regulate his energy and emotions and curb some of his more impulsive behavior (i.e. running away, hitting himself when frustrated). It's been great for his social development, teaching him how to engage in reciprocal activities and initiate interactions. It's also very helpful for us to understand how we can give him the sensory stimulation he needs. He is a major seeker and we had completely underestimated just how much much energy he had to burn. The OT has also helped develop his fine motor. Fine motor activities tend to require being still, which my son hates. But our OT has lots of sneaky ways to get him working on those skills while keeping it interesting for him.

I understand people having reservations about OT, and I was highly skeptical when we started. But a really good OT can do great things. Just make sure they work with you to set very clear goals (both granular and big picture) and that you regularly review them and adjust as necessary. Talk to several to find one that is a good fit. And always, always make sure that you're staying on top of what the OT is doing so that you can duplicate it at home. We are at Skills on the Hill and are very pleased, but again it's all about your individual therapist.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We've done OT for motor issues, but a friend does OT for her ADHD kid. They use the "How does your engine run?" program. He was all over the place.

So basically your kid will need to learn how to regulate himself and learn to redirect himself when he wants to follow his impulse and touch everything. An OT might be able to help you with this. Try a few sessions with clear goals. If it helps, then it may be worth pursuing.

Alternatively you may want to try fidgets and compression shirts (e.g., Under Armor), or weighted vest to help him channel his sensory issues.

[Anonymous]

OT definitely has helped regulation and redirecting my DS sensory seeking behavior. The key is the therapist fit with your son and his/her willingness to educate you on what to do at home. One hour of therapy a week with no work at home will not be as effective.

Before the meeting with the OT I would make a list of top 3 small goals you hope to achieve in the next few months. Whether that's redirection of the touching Etc. an OT cannot make a behavior disappear but they can help redirect the behavior to make it more appropriate and give you and your son the tools to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I took him in for an autism evaluation. Mainly for behavioral issues - frequent tantrums, difficulty transitioning between certain activities, extremely active, obsession with trains/cars, etc. He was seen by an OT, SLP, and a neurodevelopmental pediatrician during the evaluation.

No speech/language issues. But his energy and level of activity was very apparent. Here are some of the issues noted:

- has a need to touch everything and everyone
- has little sense of danger; will run ahead of us (parents), or try to jump and climb playground equipment in inappropriate ways
- loves to crash, bounce into things
- constantly climbing on furniture, etc
- loves to be swung high, tossed into the air
- carries around a little car in one or both hands almost all of the time when we're out and about. It's almost like a security blanket for him

The OT noticed that his fine motor skills were less developed -- does not like to draw, color, etc. and is easily frustrated with a fork

Potty training has been a completely nightmare. Does not tell us when he has to go, and doesn't seem bothered by being wet (but will tell us that we need to change him after he poops).

Some of the tantruming behaviors have improved since the evaluation, but the other "sensory seeking" behaviors have not changed. We are particularly concerned about his need to touch everything and everyone. We've talked to him repeatedly about personal space and things, but it's just not sinking in. He can't seem to help himself.

Sounds a lot like my son, and OT has helped us enormously. He also has speech and social deficits. FWIW, he was not initially diagnosed as being on the spectrum (first eval was at age three), but was later diagnosed at age four.

Also, how did the OT help?

14:25 here. The difference in the evals from three to four were largely my son's ability to demonstrate his behaviors to the evaluator. As he got older, the quirks became more clearly delineated from normal behavior. Our first dev psych was hesitant to dx him at three years old because as some previous posters have indicated, those behaviors CAN be normal and simply a phase. A year later, it was harder to dismiss them so easily.

Our OT has been helpful in helping our son to self-regulate his energy and emotions and curb some of his more impulsive behavior (i.e. running away, hitting himself when frustrated). It's been great for his social development, teaching him how to engage in reciprocal activities and initiate interactions. It's also very helpful for us to understand how we can give him the sensory stimulation he needs. He is a major seeker and we had completely underestimated just how much much energy he had to burn. The OT has also helped develop his fine motor. Fine motor activities tend to require being still, which my son hates. But our OT has lots of sneaky ways to get him working on those skills while keeping it interesting for him.

I understand people having reservations about OT, and I was highly skeptical when we started. But a really good OT can do great things. Just make sure they work with you to set very clear goals (both granular and big picture) and that you regularly review them and adjust as necessary. Talk to several to find one that is a good fit. And always, always make sure that you're staying on top of what the OT is doing so that you can duplicate it at home. We are at Skills on the Hill and are very pleased, but again it's all about your individual therapist.

Good luck!

I think the bolded part is key. We did private OT for a few months when DS with ASD/ADHD was 4. To this day, I am not sure what it was for other than a big money suck. We did it at the recommendation of his developmental pediatrician and while all the swinging, ball pit, climbing was a lot of fun for DS, it didn't do much of anything. DS did not have behavioral issues or throw tantrums although he is a sensory seeker.

School OT addressing fine motor issues was much more useful but those had very clear goals outlined in the IEP.

[Anonymous]

For those parents who found OT useful, can you describe in detail what the OT did?

[Anonymous]

It was not helpful for us. We started shy of my son's third birthday. He was major sensory seeker, and fits OP's description perfectly (touches everything, thrives on sensory inputs, jumping, crashing, running ahead, personal space issues) except he did not have tantrum issues. We were having major problems in his preschool at the time, which is why we sought it out. It was super stressful to get to the OT sessions (I had to leave work early, drive across town, we were always late) and yes, lots of fun for my son to run and play on all the stuff. But it was basically the exact same as when he was at the park. Which is cheaper and I didn't have to miss work to do. So yes, the OT sessions totally made my son feel better by satisfying his sensory needs. But no, they didn't do anything to redirect or help him to regulate his inappropriate behavior in different settings. As an aside, our son's problems have always been worse in large group settings (cycle of loud noise, escalating chaos, loss of control), so we've gotten feedback from multiple experts that one-on-one therapy or even small group therapy is unlikely at this age to translate to better behavior in large groups.

Also as an aside, my son is now four and seems to have a better comprehension that he is wired a bit differently. He understands the analogy that he has a motor inside of him that needs to get turned off (he can't turn it off yet, though). So at some point in the near future, some of these therapy things might start working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He is three. Give the kid a break. That is normal for boys.

No, it isn't. If it were, teachers would not point out the difference, and OP would not be spending a ton of money to get an evaluation. There is a range of typical kid behavior and some kids take the typical behavior to extremes and cannot learn to stop through the usual parenting/classroom techniques.

[Anonymous]

Ot has helped with our fine motor issues but the sensory seeking stuff has not helped at 4. Fwiw, my son sounds much like yours but later has social issues due to all this seeking, and has been diagnosed as severe ADHD.

[Anonymous]

NP here. My son is 28 month and he fits into the pattern described by the OP. He wants to touch everything and throw everything. He constantly chews on things and throw big tantrums like hitting his head on the ground. He also has a speech delay. He is currently in the the infants and toddlers program in Montgomery County and he sees his speech therapist weekly, an OT monthly, and behavior therapist bi-weekly. I guess I just don't know if anything will help as I don't see much of an improvement. I don't know what to do other than to wait it out. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My son is 28 month and he fits into the pattern described by the OP. He wants to touch everything and throw everything. He constantly chews on things and throw big tantrums like hitting his head on the ground. He also has a speech delay. He is currently in the the infants and toddlers program in Montgomery County and he sees his speech therapist weekly, an OT monthly, and behavior therapist bi-weekly. I guess I just don't know if anything will help as I don't see much of an improvement. I don't know what to do other than to wait it out. Any suggestions?

If its just a language disorder, wait it out. When the language comes, that will get better but its pretty normal. Give him a teether frozen or frozen wet wash cloth to chew on over clothing. Ignore the tantrums when you can put him in a safe place. We used to put our kid on a bean bag chair. And, lots of speech therapy.

[chitz]

Occupational therapy can be very beneficial if you have a strong therapist however I also have found it can be a huge money suck (160 dollars per hour once a week is crazy). I have heard of kids spending years in therapy without assessment on their progress or goals. I have also seen kids make huge progress and the therapy is life changing. I would recommend sitting in on your child's sessions at least in the beginning. A therapist that is comfortable and can explain what they are working on will completely put your mind at ease and reassure you. Also find a clinic that accepts insurance. Together in Movement in Maryland and Exceptional Children's Center are two I would recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It scares and saddens me that these behaviors would be attributed to autism. Wow.

??? These are pretty oft described behaviors associated with autism as well as ADHD, as I am sure you know. Sensory issues are kind of a hallmark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ot has helped with our fine motor issues but the sensory seeking stuff has not helped at 4. Fwiw, my son sounds much like yours but later has social issues due to all this seeking, and has been diagnosed as severe ADHD.

Us. I think OT for sensory seeking really isn't effective - my kid would honestly need to do it allllll day long. It helps for fine motor. My son also has severe ADHD. These behaviors sound a lot like ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ot has helped with our fine motor issues but the sensory seeking stuff has not helped at 4. Fwiw, my son sounds much like yours but later has social issues due to all this seeking, and has been diagnosed as severe ADHD.

Us. I think OT for sensory seeking really isn't effective - my kid would honestly need to do it allllll day long. It helps for fine motor. My son also has severe ADHD. These behaviors sound a lot like ADHD.

I know this is a zombie thread but replying anyway! OT has helped my 4 year old a lot with fine motor and proprioception (which was hindering gross motor skill development). It seems like a lot of people find that OT does not help when the predominate symptom is "sensory seeking" on it's own, that is not also involved with other behaviors like tantruming, aggression, etc. Interesting, I wonder what the explanation is.