I'm at my wits end after an occupational therapy visit for my DS. My son has been having appointments, reports, investigations etc since age two and I've gotten nowhere, I'm a useless mother because this seems to be what they are all pointing at. I'm frustrated about the help I'm being given and it all seems to suggest I'm to blame.
- He's 6, he's unable to follow simple and multiple instructions such as "kneel down" " put your hand on your head and the other one on your tummy", he can't understand rules for simple games like hide and seek/Simon says etc. he can't understand questions when I ask why he has done something his answer is always "I don't know" or crying.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SAY I NEED TO PLAY SIMON SAYS MORE.
APPARENTLY BECAUSE HE CAN PUT A BALL UNDER A CUP AND RECITE / REPEAT A COPIED SENTENCE THERE ARE NO CONCERNS
- He cries whenever he is unable to do something or throws things and screams. If he gets too worked up he digs his nails into his face.
SCHOOL HAVENT SEEN IT SO HAVE DOCUMENTED THIS AS UNTRUE
- he breaks toys and electronics ect on purpose by pulling off the parts, stickers, buttons, or pushing the buttons all the way in, chews things, jams them into other things, plugs, dangerous things, picks wallpaper off, digs paint off his wall with bits of toys, pulls curtains down, shreds books, cards, jigsaws etc, climbs on dangerous things like shelves, windowsills and throws himself from a height.
PAEDIATRICIAN, OT, ED PSYCH ETC IGNORED AS APPARENTLY THIS IS WHAT ALL CHILDREN DO.
-He smears faeces and urine in toys and on walls, in his hair, on his body, in receptacles. Makes "soup" by dipping shredded paper into this disgusting concoction. Nobody believed me so I took pictures.
THE PAEDIATRICIAN ACCUSED ME OF CAUSING IT BY TAKING ONE PICTURE, ONCE.
SCHOOL SAY ITS NOT REALLY HAPPENING AS THEY HAVEN'T SEEN IT
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST SAID MY FAULT I DONT DO ENOUGH MESSY PLAY AND I NEED TO ATTEND A PARENTING COURSE. I have tried EVERYTHING to stop it, giving him paint, play doh, shaving foam, flour and water,mud,marmite, you name it.
- He eats hardly anything except dry toast. Dry crackers, cereal, breadsticks, crisps, sweets, yoyos and jelly, any type of real food and he will sniff it, look at it,cry, gag.
DIETICIAN SAYS ITS MY FAULT I NEED TO KEEP FORCING THE SAME FOOD IN FRONT OF HIM UNTIL HE EATS IT AND ALL CHILDREN ARE FUSSY
A bad sleeper, he won't sleep in his bed only on the floor between the door and the landing but he isn't afraid of the dark, he falls asleep only through exhaustion and that's around midnight he's up again multiple times and fully up and about from about 6am.
AGAIN MY FAULT AS A FEW, LITERALLY A HANDFUL OF TIMES WHEN IVE BEEN DESPERATE AND HE WONT SLEEP IVE ALLOWED HIM TO WATCH TV
- he repeats sequences constantly, numbers, days of the week, asks every day what day it is and will keep asking until he gets an answer, if we say we are going somewhere or doing something, he goes on and on and on asking about when we are doing it and reminding that we haven't done it, if we are no longer doing it/going he cries and tantrums. He is still asking if it's christmas and talking about Santa coming soon......
- cries and tantrums at everything, cries at being told no, cries at not getting things to fit together, cries when he can't find something, cries when something takes too long. If I say I'll get him a drink and I get distracted by a few minutes, he sits and cries.
- he has an obsession with glasses, he will make them out of paper,straws, pencils, string and want to wear them outside even if it's raining, cries if he can't.
- he makes sounds, often the same sound, in a loop for ages, oooooooooo, woo woo woo woo woo, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa etc he often loses track of time doing this and can go for hours.
- no attention span. He gets bored of activities within 5 minutes and will want to move on, he can only listen for a few seconds before moving or shouting out.
TEACHER SAYS ITS MY FAULT THAT HIS READING IS POOR AS I DONT READ TO HIM ENOUGH!
- drags his feet everywhere and trips over everything, walks on his toes
DOESNT HAPPEN AT SCHOOL SO DOESNT EXIST.
-still holds pencils with a fist and breaks the tips despite being taught how repeatedly since around 2
I can't take any more, I just want some acknowledgement that something isn't right instead of everything being blamed on me. The school block the other services by telling them everything's fine mummy is being silly,the professionals say there are no concerns at school and therefore it's only at home, so it's down to my parenting. Blaming it on his father having him on weekends instead of us being together. For what it's worth his father has not lived with us since he was 6months as we agreed to divorce. We are still great friends.
My son can be a lovely cheerful happy little boy but everybody makes me out to be a liar as this is all they see, they don't see me crying in my bed at night because I can hear him oooooooooooing and flicking the light on and off, washing shit off the walls and my son at 3am, feeling ashamed at the contents of his lunchbox because I'd rather he eat something than nothing.
They keep telling me that because he's the correct weight he's fine
Because he can repeat a sentence or action, he's fine
Because he doesn't do it at school it's not true, he's fine,
Because he smiles and speaks he's fine
Because he can do do the massive zip in the OT office he's fine dressing himself
Because he can put a ball under a cup his understanding is fine
Because he can keep a pencil there for the time his hand is physically put into that position he's fine
Because he can count to 20 he's fine (copied sequence)
Because he can pick his name out he's fine ( copied routine)
I don't know what I am after I just wanted to rant.
