Have an appointment with Occupational Therapist on Wednesday, what to expect?

[devilisunaccomplishedinprada]

DD1 is 5.8 and in Year 1. We've had a referral to OT and just wondering if anyone has any experience so I know what to expect?

DD is very behind in her reading and writing, as in she can only recognise small general words like "The, and, oh," etc. She can spell her first name when prompted and knows the alphebet. She can only write her first name and it is only just recognisable. She seems so behind her peers in some ways yet is on the same level in others. She also has an absolutely awful stutter, it comes and goes. Atm she's been stuttering every sentence and she really gets quite frustrated poor thing and sometimes just gives up completely because she can't get out what she was trying to say.

With my DS2 they tested everything over and over again, to make sure they got accurate results: running, jumping, gross motor, fine motor, IQ, all sorts of things. They were incredibly thorough. They then referred him to a Developmental Co-ordination Disorder group and he made a year's progress in 6 weeks. It was a great success and I thought the team were brilliant.

Lots of play and activities both seated and physical, with the OT making notes and observations. ds worked through a number of assessments such as this looking at things like copying marks , shapes and letters ,also tasks like walking along a line, jumping , hopping, rolling, throwing beanbags on target etc, moulding shaopes from playdough, copying patterns in pegs and blocks. The results are then taken away, reviewed and compared to performance of nt children across the age range. It may take mroe than one appointment depending on her concentration span.

You will probably be asked to complete a questionnaire about her development since birth and pg/birth, and any sensory issues and be asked about the problems which have prompted the referral . Good luck

How did it go ????

Thanks for asking mummyofboys. We were in there for a about half an hour. The OT asked me various questions about dd, was it a normal birth and pregnancy (yes) was she a normal weight (yes) and how she was getting on school etc also was she clumsy (no). She didn't have her doing anything physical, but got her to do some drawings, trace a line along a path, some beading and things along those lines.

She said she wasn't too worried about her being behind in her reading and writing, it's only if at around age 7 she's still very poor then they will do something with it. She also said it was good that DD isn't clumsy (I think that rules out dyspraxia) and that she is very sporty. (Has recently learned to swim underwater without the help of armbands [proudmummyemoticion]).

We are going to have 2 weekly sessions over the next 2 months were the OT nurse will sit and do activities with dd. and then they will review in 6 months. She has also referred dd for speech therapy because of her stutter and because her speech is immature. she also said we should do a lot of activities at home with her were she has to use both of her hands to manipulate stuff (beading, threading, colouring in, plasticine etc.) as this will help her fine motor skills and get her to use both sides of her brain.

So overall I think it went well.

I think I have an inkling that dd may be dyslexic, as DH is and she does a lot of things in the same way he does and thinks the same way too IYSWIM. But she is to young for them to diagnose yet.

I'm really pleased with her school as they were the ones that flagged this up back when she was in nursery. I think because they've caught on to it so early she will hopefully get all the help she needs and will have less problems later on in school.

Hello there,

DD is waiting for an appointment with the OT. So far she has seen the Ed Psych, and two paediatricians.

They believe that she has dyspraxia, Attention Deficit and is on the autistic spectrum, apparently, with specific learning difficulties, you often get more than one!

Dyspraxia can affect both fine and gross motor skills, with DD it is mostly her fine motor skills that are affected, but her co-ordination and balance are also poor. She isn't THAT clumsy, but is definitely unco-ordinated.

BoffinMum - can I ask about the development coordination disorder group? No one has mentioned anything like that to me, and it was obviously very helpful to your DS.

My son saw the OT three times, twice at the clinic and once at school. The OT assessed his fine motor skills and hand writing, she didn't bother assessing his gross motor skills as she had that information from the community paediatrian.

My son does not have any developmental coordination disorder like dyspraxia, but he has very stretchy ligaments.

We did "Write from the Start" with my son. It made a huge difference with him. I also found that he benefitted from a pencil grip. Ebay is a good place to get pencil grips at a sensible price.

5.8 years old is really young to be worrying about pen control. My son had absolute no pencil control at 5.8 years old. At seven years old his pencil control is gettting there. He still has extra help with hand writing, but at least he can form his letters.