Occupational Therapist

[DiscoBabe]

My ds has been referred to OT. Can anyone give me any idea of what will happen now? Its for sensory issues including fussy eating, sensitivity to certain loud noises and sometimes touch.

Thanks :)

Hi DB, my ds2 was referred for slightly different reasons but the first appt was more of an assessment so that the OT had a clearer picture of exactly what to work on. Ds enjoys his appts, we have exercises to do to improve his muscle tone; we are trying techniques to stop him breaking his glasses and he plays a lot of 'games' during the session. Check if they will do a home assessment as well because certain changes we have made at home have made life a bit easier, eg ds has a green blanket that he leaves on his seat when he is getting up to do something other than watch tele. The blanket on his seat means that he is coming back and the other dc's wont sit on in his place. He has an old wooden seat at the kitchen table that's also painted green and we have set up a 'workstation' for him to do his homework. OT's are great! x

Ooo i like the blanket idea. Ds often gets upset if someone sits in his seat even though he's moved off it and we thought it was free! Thanks.

My DD2 has sensory issues (and many others) and our OT did a sensory assessment to see what the problem areas were and to what extent. DD2's at the time was auditory processing and being severely tactile defensive (and others). She is also very sensitive to certain noises.

We were put on a deep pressure brushing program (we've done 2 lots of this) and joint compressions, and we've currently doing our third lot of therapeutic Listening which is helping her auditory processing and her other issues.

Good luck!

We did the sensory profiling and DS was flagged up with 'definite differences' in several areas with the conclusion that he has a Sensory Processing Disorder as well as his now diagnosed Asperger's. He also has low muscle tone and hypermobility.

We are seeing the head of paediatric OT locally but I think experience and knowledge of these type of problems varies widely. She is very supportive but we have not had any programme to 'de-sensitise'. In fact, we saw BIBIC and she was very sniffy about their programme which was, admittedly, very generic.

However, she says she is not trained to do the brushing technique (it has a special name - Wahlberg or soemthing like that) and so can't teach it.

She has suggested about managing things e.g. if he's chewing on cushions, give him something else to chew on or if he's particularly floppy one day, do thinks to perk up the muscle tone. However, we've had no core stability exercises and I'm not sure there are any real solutions on offer.

All this is to say, I'm thinking about a private referral to GOSH as I'm not convinced I'm speaking to an expert - as nice as she is.

I'm not sure whether the others have seen OTs privately or on the NHS but my advice would be if you go speak to the OT and aren't satisfied about their expertise, go elsewhere

We were referred to OT November 09 beause school finally admitted that they cannot solve the problem with his inability to write and Ot finally went to school end of May '10. And then I wrote to the head of the dept end of June because I did not hear from them and finally got a report. However, since then it has all been positive - I suggested bringing ds to see them in the hospital if they were busy - for a sensory profile which school did not even ask for but instead OT came here and then suggested a hospital appointment in September with another children's specialist and with more equipement. Gave me some suggestions on games to play.

Have not heard about therapeutic listening though - off to google it.

My ds has been referred to OT. Can anyone give me any idea of what will happen now?

You will go on a possibly very long waiting list...

lol wasuup we only had to wait 11 months. Have to google the therapeutic listening because OT said DS may have the auditory processing thing too.
She rolled him up in a mat on the floor like a wrap. She also tried a weighted waistcoat on him (like Bob the Builder's outfit), which actually helps with attention levels at nursery.
On the whole, at the appt I would expect lots of fun equipment to check visual, auditory, touch issues; also coordination and gross motor skills (they may ask the child to climb or jump or go through a tunnel), and then writing/drawing/fine motor skills (with pencils, beads on a string).

I'm assuming this is an NHS OT? Our community paed told us that the OT was of 'limited' use for ds's sensory problems and very reluctantly put in a referral....

I wonder if we were being fobbed off.

He did, however, push the 'post diagnosis workshops'....
Surely some sort of intervention from them would decrease the need for post diagnosis workshops...

:(

OTs train generically, and can only access the very expensive post-qualification sensory training if their employer agrees to the time and pays for it (and the updates necessary to ensure it stays within scope of practice). They also have to be allowed to provide this type of provision by the service manager...

It also may vary depending on which team your OT is in...would be good if it was simpler :(

Yes its an NHS OT. I'm hoping we won't be waiting too long as the Paed said he would review ds in the new year. I thought they had to see you within 16wks anyway, even if its only an initial assessment? We've been quite lucky so far i saw my HV Mid june and since then have been referred to and seen SaLT and the Paed. Thanks for all the advice :)