Sensory Issues

[Anonymous]

My Kindergarten teacher relayed that my son often seems stressed when it gets loud in the classroom and is also having some issues with fine motor skills/handwriting. He does not act out in school at all though and the teacher noted that he is polite and mild mannered and also seems happy when he gets home. She noted that his symptoms were very "subtle" and he would not qualify for services through the town but she did encourage me to see a specialist on our own who also works at the school on occasion.

I visited the specialist's sensory gym with my son and at the end she shared her observations. The vocabulary is all new to me but her discussion seemed very wishy washy to me for lack of a better word. She noted that he has poor physical awareness and has difficulty with copying drawings. At the moment, this is not affecting him academically and he is meeting all the milestones but she recommended weekly OT because she worries that as things gear up he may get frustrated. I asked whether he needed a full evaluation because I was worried about whether this indicates something more significant but she said that she did not think an evaluation was warranted. I know that labels are not necessarily helpful but when I pressed her she said that his symptoms fall in the realm of sensory processing issues. I do not doubt her integrity and she is highly respected in the district but I'm still very confused about what this all means. Is there a way that I can get a more definitive diagnosis so I know exactly what I'm dealing with? Should I go ahead and get a full evaluation?

[Anonymous]

There are evaluations that show how far from the norm your child is on these skills.

It costs a few hundred dollars -- which is a lot -- but weekly OT is not inexpensive either. Without an assessment there is also no way to benchmark or gauge progress.

Given what you report here, I wouldn't do it. I'm always leery of teachers/schools steering a parent to a particular provider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are evaluations that show how far from the norm your child is on these skills.

It costs a few hundred dollars -- which is a lot -- but weekly OT is not inexpensive either. Without an assessment there is also no way to benchmark or gauge progress.

Given what you report here, I wouldn't do it. I'm always leery of teachers/schools steering a parent to a particular provider.

Adding --

I wouldn't do an evaluation or sign up for weekly OT. Keep an eye on it.

If your child develops problems in school (assuming it's public), the school must do an evaluation.

[Anonymous]

The K teacher can't decide that your DC doesn't qualify for services or that he doesn't need a full evaluation.

If you are concerned, send an email outlining your concerns and requesting an evaluation to your school's assistant principal and CC the teacher. They will meet with you to hear your concerns and discuss what evaluation is warranted. Not having behavior issues isn't a reason not to do an evaluation and it sounds like there IS some educational impact if he's not able to copy, has fine motor issues, and is getting overwhelmed in the classroom. You'll want to find out exactly what that looks like, though.

Also, keep a written record of what the teacher has told you about your DC's issues. You can send her an email follow-up to the conversation to document what you were told. Then when they tell you that your DC doesn't have any problems, you can show that there is indeed a history of the teacher bringing problems to your attention.

[Anonymous]

Familiarizing yourself with the new language is difficult, especially when you're not so certain of the provider or the advice you receiving.

The Out of Sync Child is a good book to pick up and read...see if you recognize any of your child's behaviors when you read the book.

our child has benefitted so much from a full OT evaluation, and from weekly sessions. But we got in the hands of the right OT...

Good luck, you sound like you're in tune with your child...

[Anonymous]

Hi OP- sensory issues can be complicated and can be stand alone but many times are connected to other difficulties as well. My son has sensory issues and they were sooo hidden for a while but really come into play in the school setting and certain activities that require coordination and have a lot of visual and auditory stimuli. I had put off doing an evaluation be ause I thought the teacher was exaggerating and I regret doing that bc after having full eval done it was clear he needed OT, speech and other accomodations from the school. Im not saying your child will, Im just saying that once a concern regarding sensory stuff is brought to your attention, you should just get a full eval done so you are as informed as possible if need be. And that way, if he does need OT you will know and can get him the assistance he needs.

[Anonymous]

If she knows that the loud bothers him, like other kids, she should maintain a more quiet classroom.

She also should work on handwriting more. Get some Kumon books and work on it at home.

This kind of sensory stuff is silly. There are kids with real sensory issues, but this is just normal 5 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she knows that the loud bothers him, like other kids, she should maintain a more quiet classroom.

She also should work on handwriting more. Get some Kumon books and work on it at home.

This kind of sensory stuff is silly. There are kids with real sensory issues, but this is just normal 5 year old.[/quote

There is nothing silly about this.

The child may have dysgraphia and sensory issues...

[Anonymous]

This all sounds extremely mild. If you haven't noticed any issues created by sensory defensiveness, I would not spend the time and money on OT. If he's progressing with writing, then OT doesn't really seem necessary either. It's weird that they are both claiming that there are "issues" that require expensive OT, but not big enough to actually professionally evaluate.

Did the OT even administer the Peabody or any other normed assessment?

[Anonymous]

OP here-no formal assessment was done. I do not doubt some of the issues that were raised particularly his struggle in copying drawings. For example, he was given a drawing of a fish with multiple steps and by the time he got to step 3, I could tell he was really struggling to copy it. I'm leaning toward just getting a private evaluation because I would like to have a clearer sense of what we are dealing with so we can make sure to address it early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-no formal assessment was done. I do not doubt some of the issues that were raised particularly his struggle in copying drawings. For example, he was given a drawing of a fish with multiple steps and by the time he got to step 3, I could tell he was really struggling to copy it. I'm leaning toward just getting a private evaluation because I would like to have a clearer sense of what we are dealing with so we can make sure to address it early.

Here are some of the assessment tools commonly used by OTs (from U of Michigan).

If the OT doesn't say what they would use to assess a child with possible issues in x, y and z, find another one. http://guides.emich.edu/c.php?g=259436&p=2081301

[Anonymous]

I would have a private OT evaluate him, but not do a full neuropsych eval. Any issues he has would be mild, and he doesn't seem even close to qualifying for a diagnosis, just a little added support. My son sees an OT for sensory stuff, and it's been helpful, but any diagnosis would be way over-the-top in our case, and yours sounds similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-no formal assessment was done. I do not doubt some of the issues that were raised particularly his struggle in copying drawings. For example, he was given a drawing of a fish with multiple steps and by the time he got to step 3, I could tell he was really struggling to copy it. I'm leaning toward just getting a private evaluation because I would like to have a clearer sense of what we are dealing with so we can make sure to address it early.

Most people we know, including ourselves have gone to OT for similar reasons and they always find sensory issues and its very costly. We found OT a waste of time. My son who has SN could not draw a fish at 5, but a few years later can draw better than me, although that doesn't say much. It just may not be his thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-no formal assessment was done. I do not doubt some of the issues that were raised particularly his struggle in copying drawings. For example, he was given a drawing of a fish with multiple steps and by the time he got to step 3, I could tell he was really struggling to copy it. I'm leaning toward just getting a private evaluation because I would like to have a clearer sense of what we are dealing with so we can make sure to address it early.

Don't get a private eval! Go through the school. They can do a specific evaluation for fine motor skills and save you several hundreds of dollars. Fine motor skill evaluations are relatively objective, so I think you can trust the results. "Sensory" stuff is much more subjective. If you don't see your son having specific difficulties caused by his sensitivities, then I wouldn't bother with that.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have two kids with real sensory issues--the kind that were a sign of something else, in our case ADHD. In the case of one kid, his sensory issues really affected his learning and his ability to enjoy childhood activities/socialize. In the case of the other, his sensory issues were great enough that he was sometimes a danger to himself. I did over two years of private OT with both and... while I don't regret it because of how much I learned, the actual OT did very little. How much can you achieve on a Tuesday afternoon from 3-4?? Especially when they spend half the time swinging! I also wasn't crazy about the one-size fits all approach... listening program, brushing protocol, and so on for every issue.

In fairness to the OTs, they advised from day 1 that we change the kids' "sensory diet" and this was great advice. I observed what they did with kids, read up on it all, signed my kids up for martial arts, swim lessons, and had them outdoors as much as possible. In summers, we did tons of OT type activities (Out-of-Sync Kids have Fun, or something like that, has great suggestions) plus Handwriting Without Tears workbooks, or other fun art projects.

In the end, my kids outgrew some issues and didn't outgrow others. The obvious sensory stuff has all gone away--they are not overwhelmed or sensory seeking crashers anymore. They still have horrible fine motor skills, despite years of OT plus all the work at home.

My feeling is that you can easily do a lot of this stuff at home and that it wouldn't even be necessary if we all lived a different kind of life playing in nature all the time. That said, the OTs can be a wonderful resource for ideas and my kids certainly enjoyed the sessions.