We have movement!

[lougle]

I telephoned the Paediatric therapy department today to rustle up some enthusiasm for DD2.

Her SALT has gone on Maternity leave so the email I sent never got actioned- no bad thing, I thought. A fresh pair of eyes will do no harm. Slight complication that she has been discharged, but I'm sure they can sort that out in light of recent developments . I've sent that on to the lady who's trying to sort things out and she'll forward it on.

OT - She has reached the heady heights of no. 11 on the list, after 11 months. Nice neat numbers. However, the OT who will be taking her case was intending to phone me, and when she did she decided that the planned action for DD2 (one assessment clinic) was inappropriate. She's going to arrange to go into school before Christmas and has said that she'll need to go in several times. She's also going to see DD2 with me, and do a Sensory Profile with me (likely after Christmas). She was very concerned that she sucks her hand and has a sore hand as a result -she said it was an 'alarm bell' for her, and that she thinks DD2 has quite a few sensory problems.

She said that 'she would welcome the input of CAMHS' and asked if I'd mentioned my concerns re. DD2 regarding ASD to the Paed. She seemed quite keen that I would do so.

Are we starting to make progress??

Sounds promising lougle I habe found OT's to be very helpful. Dd3 also has SALT input and the therapist is lovely, she just has a stupidly huge list of children so cant do enough.

Good luck

Thank you

ooh, ooh, ooh, that sounds distinctly like progress! My limited experience of OT's is that they are fab

sounds like the OT will be doing an indepth assessment and this really builds your case in advance of Paed appt. Is it Paed or CAMHs who diagnose where you are? Do you have any signs of a next Paed appt? Can you get one booked now for Jan?

oh, it's just great when something actually happens...hurray!

I'm a bit confused about Paed vs CAMHS. The SENCO said 'it's CAMHS we need, but then you already have a Paed on board...umm....ok..let's do both.'

So I don't know.

I tried to phone the Paed's secretary several times today but it was on answerphone.

DD2 seems to be getting worse by the day. I don't know if we're perceiving more, or if she's coping less.

Definite progress. Lasso that OT and don't let her disappear!

More good ideas from PolterGoose I hope your dd2 has lots of downtime this weekend and sleeps ok, Lougle

She had an INSET day today and has another on Monday. So it's a nice long weekend.

I'm not sure if giving her days off would be wise at this stage:

a) she's bordering on school refusal, so it's a delicate balance.
b) to get the help she needs they have to see that she isn't coping.

Thank you -pressed post without saying it.

Yes, you're right.

It's interesting. I described her to the OT as 'so passive', but we're wondering if the passivity is her 'overloaded' state? I've just covertly videoed breakfast. 20 minutes to eat two slices of toast. She didn't sit still for more than 10 seconds at a time. Flopping one way, then another, pretending to be asleep. Repetitive arm movements with laughter; chanting; bobbing up and down; strange facial expressions with more laughter. The whole 20 minutes.

Will the real DD2 please stand up?

Really glad people are starting to listen now.

My theory is that passivity can be overload, or it could be that sometimes her 'internal' world is more absorbing than the interactions.

DS2's reaction to overload used to be to become passive, so that is possible, lougle. When he was toddler/pre-school age, he'd go so far as to curl up and go to sleep. He almost did that before he left school, the other night. He's hating walking so much, that he laid on the floor and when we picked him up because a class of kids needed to walk past, he had almost nodded off.

Another night of no sleep. She wouldn't go to bed last night because she was so anxious about having two snacks, despite having no school on Monday, and feels shy. So we let her sleep on the sofa but she wore at 11.00 with tummy ache. We finally got her to bed at 3am by letting her sleep next to me, while DH went to sleep in her bed.