anyone's child been through occupational therapy?

[southeastastra]

and would like to tell me about it?

i took my ds(6) for an initial assessment today, they have said there are areas in his physical development that will need to be worked on. wondering what this will entail really?

OT people know so much and its not just related to movement but visual and auditory perception as well.

Not sure what they actually do - lots of gross motor skills exercises and stuff. My chap only had 2 hours a week for 6 weeks when in year 4 then nothing until last year when we got him into a special school where OT is provided as a matter of course. The transformation has been amazing. We have really noticed a difference. If you are offered it then go for it - I wish we had realised it earlier

ds had 4 sessions and a home programme. The sessions were structured and play based to work on various groups of muscles and coordination exercises. She also offered rpactical tips for home and school to reduce his fatigue when writing for example. 3 months on we do bits of the home programme from time ot time but to all intents and purposes he has been discharged but the issues haven't "gone away". It did give us somethign to show to the school, to raise awareness and ask for help though.

thank you flyingmum. i feel sort of lost as to what his weaknesses are atm, but i have another meeting on friday. i will definitely take it up for him.

thanks too lizs.

My son who is almost 4 had his first assessment the other day. The OT came to his nursery to observe him and then had a meeting with me and the nursery SENCO straight afterwards. She suggested a number of things we could do with him (e.g. getting him to pop bubble wrap to improve hand strength) and is sending a letter to follow up with further suggestions. There will be a follow up visit in a couple of months' time.

my ds was first observed by an OT in nursery then had two assessment sessions where they did lots of exercises, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, balance, proprioception etc - everyone then agreed that he needed OT but there was no money for treatment, only diagnosis

In the summer of Y1 a sum of money suddenly became available so he had another assessment then the OT came to school for 6 sessions to work on building up his strength and try to help him with his writing (particular area of difficulty)

He's just gone into Y3 and is still having big problems with writing so the school referred him back to OT - he had his assessment a couple of weeks ago and the OT's going into school to advise the teacher and LSA on daily exercises to do with him

Although it's very clear to everyone involved with him that he needs regular OT sessions, unfortunately in our area there's a chronic shortage of paediatric OTs so only children with major physical difficulties are getting ongoing help. Sadly, at this rate I can't see him writing effectively before he leaves primary school

that's bad mimsum, we seem to have a few here, i didn't have to wait that long for an appointment.

Ds1's school (mainstream) runs sessions with OT exercises in. They do circuits with things like trampolining, push-ups, catching & throwing etc. Ds1 has made lots of progress with it. The OT clinic has information sheets which show you the exercises in case parents want to try them at home.

Oh mimsum, that's awful.

DD has had two courses of OT, she is now 8.

Things that have been covered are writing, using a knife and fork, tying knots, doing up zips, cutting.

She also had a screening for her Visual Perceptual abilities (think that was it), which highlighted she was weak in a couple of areas.

She had combined sessions with a physio who did things like helping her learn to skip and play hopscotch, so that she wouldn't be left out in the play ground, and other general excercises designed to strengthen her muscles.

I think we have been incredibly lucky though, the OT & physio were just completley amazing. I feel so sad reading minsum's post how this differs so much depending on where you live. I was told that sadly in time the help that children like DD get will no longer be available as funding is being cut.

My dd sees an OT for 90 mins every wk. Mainly for sensory integration therapy but she also works on fine motor skills such as using cutlery, pens, and scissors and balance and movement, She loves it.

i got back from another appointment today. the OT says he has low muscle tone and flexible joints. i'm pleased we finally know what is causing him troubles at school

My son gets half an hour every week with an ot for his dyspraxia, the guy stephen sees wilf after school in his residence(hes at resi school) he does some really good things with him to help without W realising its work ie table football etc, he started to work with W teaching him to tie his shoelaces in September last year and W managed to tie them in June!!!!

i'm looking forward to getting started with him. it's a shame this service isn't available to all.

where do you live mimsum?

Like flyingmum, my ds is at a specialist school (specific learning disability/lots of speech/communication problems) where they do OT as regular part of the day.

It's divided into focussed groups - ds (big, heavy, lunky, at risk of losing what co-ordination he has as he keeps on growing) is in the "Giraffes" group, working on stamina & co-ordination (he says he does relay races running backwards).

Other groups focus on motor planning; team-work & turn-taking; and fine motor skills. The fine motor group do board games, so ds tells me enviously.

I was talking to another mum there
& she was saying all the research she's read shows that for children with sensory-based problems the very best things are occupational therapy; and sound therapy (music, eg). So, wishing your ds the best with this.

PS ds thinks his backwards relay races are lots of fun ... this is of course partly because he's doing them with children who all have the same issues. So not competitive.

i feel like i've been aimlessley wondering what i can do for him and someone has finally switched on the light.

we're south-west London in a borough known for being tight-fisted

sounds familiar mimsum. feel i must be encountering same issues as you with my dd, possibly same area too..

sounds familiar mimsum. feel i must be encountering same issues as you with my dd, possibly same area too..