Are all OT's like this?

[elliejjtiny]

Just wondering as DS2's OT is useless. She is an OT assistant and used to be his social worker and she was fairly useless then although her replacement was worse and we dont have a SW anymore.

She comes round to our house and makes comments about how the children have too many toys (they were all tidied away apart from the train set they were playing with), tells me DS1 doesn't look autistic to her and does pointless "reviews" that could have been done over the phone but she insists on coming round and taking up over an hour of my precious time which she knows is limited.

She seems intent on filling our house with equipment DS2 doesn't need. Last time she tried to give him rails for the toilet when DS2 is still in nappies and is likely to be so for the next 2 years at least because he has hypotonia and hypermobility in his bowels and bladder. Everytime she comes she tries to give us a bath seat which we don't need. We have a highchair from her which took months and months to get and makes me think that when DS2 needs bed rails I will just buy some from mothercare and save myself the hassle.

I have said to her that I would rather just phone her if we need something but she insists on coming out every couple of months to go through the same old stuff. What really bugs me is that there is a long waiting list for OT and someone else could benefit from these appointments.

She only saw DS2 in September but today I got a phonecall from DS2's SN preschool to "remind" me that his OT is coming to the pre-school on monday. The OT hasn't asked me or even told me which I think is rude although it may be standard practise. DS1's paed is observing him at school but she discussed it with us first and gave us a date a couple of months in advance. I asked the pre-school receptionist but she didn't know. He has a chair at preschool and a standing frame that the physio has adjusted for him so not sure why she needs to come. I would ring her but she doesn't work on fridays.

Are they all like this? I would tell her we don't need her but when DS2 goes to MS preschool he will need seating there.

She is an OTT OT

That's what I thought. My friend's DS had her too and he used to throw toys at her. I askerd my friend what she did about that and she said she made sure the heavy toys were within his reach lol. She complained and got someone different but I'm not that assertive and I'd be worried about getting someone worse

i find it really funny that you are complaining that your ot wants to be involved in every aspect of your child's life tbh. that's what many people beg for years for, and still don't get. some ot's refuse point blank to go into pre-school/ school, despite it being essential that they build up a good relationship with teachers/ key workers dso that they can be involved in smart target-setting for ieps etc.

don't diss the rails on the toilet thing either - dd2 toilet trained despite being unable to sit unaided due to very low tone - and yes, we had rails

i'm dying that you are complaining about getting too much equipment, too.

in fact, this post has truly made my day - i'll be grinning from ear to ear as i toddle off to work. it falls right into the 'can't please all the people all the time' bracket as well as the 'some people aren't happy unless they are downright miserable'.

(i'm only mocking gently, lol, lots of people would be thrilled to bits with your dreadful ot.

You're probably right, must learn to be more assertive (or just send DH in who will say exactly what he thinks in true Aspie fashion

I'm impressed that your DD is toilet trained when she has very low tone. DS1 has mild hypermobility and mild ASD and still not fully toilet trained in the day at 4.4 so I assumed DS2 with severe hypotonia and severe hypermobility would be at least 4 before he started toilet training (he's 2.6 now).

I'm quite happy for her to see DS2 at preschool but I would rather she let me know first and tell me what she is going to be doing. It's probably having so many proffessionals involved with my DC's that make me a control freak. I know a lot of people would be thrilled to have her as their OT and would welcome the mountains of equipment that she recommends but I find it really irritating when I've moved stuff around to fit her in for an appointment that she says must be done and she just reels off a list of equipment that DS2 could have and then spends an hour chatting and I just think she could have done that over the phone in 10 mins and we could have gone to toddler group or something.

I think that when you have alot of professional in your life, it can get a bit overwhelming. I have sometimes had to juggle, SALT, ABA supervisor, carer for ds1 and shadow carer for ds1 in one day. Whilst we (children) need these people, I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to not have all these people to cope with, negotiate with and be nice to as well as deal with dc's, dp and work. LOL. I also like to get notice of visits into school etc as I think it's just common courtesy. I have informed my LEA that i want to be told if EP is visiting my child and was assured that I would be. of course the next thing I know the TA mentions that ed psych had ben in to do an observation. I couldn't be bothered to complain tbh - it seems truly pointless.

i'm impressed too
she was actually the fastest one of the three to toilet train, even though we had been warned she might be doubly incontinent... (as well as not walk or talk) she was dry day and night well before she could do either of the others, lol, so she had to use makaton if she needed to go, and then we had to carry her there in a hurry! her makaton was pretty ropy as well, as her odd muscle tone means her fine motor is a bit odd too, so it was a bit like, um, um, um, omg, you need a wee!!!!! quick!!!!

I found out why the OT came to see DS2 at pre-school. She wanted to measure him and assess him for a chair that he can use at mainstream pre-school. DS's keyworker asked me when DS2 was going to pre-school. I said he had a place for after easter but they are aware that we will maybe defer until September as he gets tired very easily and after the school run he is shattered from sitting in his SN buggy. He is going to grow and develop an awful lot in that time. Mind you, the OT managed to order him a tripp trapp frame and a breezi seat and then took 6 months to work out what the problem was and get a breezi frame. So on that basis it's probably a good idea to order the chair now! Cansu, we probably have about 25 proffessionals involved with three children (one of them not born yet) including DS1's teacher and GP who everyone has. Thankfully we only see most of them every few months but when the school run is 6 miles a day it's tricky to fit them all in. It would be different without them definately, my house would be cleaner for a start and my list of important phone numbers would have a lot less people on it. MWITA, your DD sounds vfery similar to my DS2. He had a SALT all ready for him as everyone said he would really struggle. But he can talk the hind legs off a donkey and I can't go in the bakery without him shouting "I like a cake peese" to anyone who will listen! PS sorry for long block of text, my return key isn't working

So is she an OT assistant/technician, or an OT? (not that it helps you)

She's an OT assistant. I tend to call her an OT as we don't have a qualified OT as well

my son had OT for over 3 years she came to school weekly and my home during holidays,she was always very nice to my face but my son really disliked her said she was snappy and shouty and a bully my son likes everyone so it was unusual for him to say such things even the school was concerned so eventually his OT stayed with him doing his sessions.the one thing that annoyed me a few times she kept saying she wasnt needed anymore but for that to happen he had to be assessed by the head of OT who refused to sign him off saying he still needed there services.

An OT will be registered with the Health Professions Council and hold a degree qualification in Occupational Therapy (unless they qualified many moons ago with a diploma in OT). An OT asssitant is not professionally qualified but is actually a support worker. Some OT assitant's can be very good, particularly if they have shadowed / worked with experienced OT's for any period of time. OT assistants should have their work overseen by a qualified OT.
Waiting lists for some specialist equipment can be lengthy so I would take what is offered if you are going to need it in the future (particularly with budget cuts looming although children's services should be protected).