OT for 9 year old boy

[Orange32]

Hi, just back from school meeting re my 9 year old DS. I have been aware that DS has had some problems in school mainly from a social side. I have spoke to them over the years but finally some action from their end.

Our Gp made a referral for DS to our local CAMHS,after I spoke to him 2 weeks ago. I have the form here at the moment to complete.

From a school end they have a social skills class which DS will be attending shortly. They also commeted on his fine motor skills, these will also be incorporated into this class. I have spoke to them before about his handwriting etc but was also told it would be fine in time which now they are aware is not the case for him.

They have also recommended he see an OT outside of school to help with other fine motors skills, his organisational skills as well, which are also very poor and other areas

My question is for others who have kids at this age starting with OT, did you find this helpful at they got older

thanks in advance

OT involvement totally changed the quality of my son's life aged 8.

I'm just about to fund a course of private OT as this is the one input that I honestly think will give him the big boost he needs to enjoy an independent adulthood. If I can I'll fund it until he is 18.

In what way Boc? I am interested in this if you are willing to share.

Another advocate for OT here. Our dealings with OT have been largely sensory, but they have done gross motor work which has helped no end. In the early days they did fine motor skills with my ds and now he is one of the best in his class for handwriting, he can tie his laces and his tie.

I'm actually looking to fund some OT too, as I've managed to get hug sensory needs onto his statement, but not the gross motor and OT in our area does not support ASD within the NHS.

I know Polter, it pisses off the OTs too as they are sending children with ASD to group clinics that are for children with physical disabilities and completely unsuitable in their approach.

They are canvassing the commissioner to try and extend their service not sure how much luck they are having. OT and by that I mean good, focused and appropriate OT really is invaluable to some children on the spectrum and this applies to my ds.

It has been the thing that has enhanced his other support/therapy, for instance his SALT and his support at school. It is such a postcode lottery though, and I feel that lots of people (professionals, parents etc) who should or need to be aware of what OT entails simply don't have the info or don't really understand what they do.
I've actually looked a studying it too but I can't afford the uni fees, well I can if I want to be in debt for the rest of my life

No OT for children with autism here either, DS's paediatrician delayed diagnosis to get a referral for OT accepted. He got discharged last year though, we've just started with a private one and applied for statutory assessment with OT being one of things DS needs.

frizz we have spoken on here before when I was under another name.
You should go for it...you would be wonderful with your practical knowledge of what its like to parent a child with needs

orange yes I would recommend attending the OT at 9. I see adults who are only now dealing with problems that have affected them since childhood.

If he is having difficulty with handwriting, general fine motor and organisational skills, it would probably be best to find an OT with experience or an interest in Sensory Processing

Redoubtable. < frantically waving, jumping and shouting>

I nearly put a thread up looking for you under your old name, thought you'd gone, but then logic kicked in and I thought you'd changed your name. Hope things are good, and friendships blossoming and secondary decisions running smoothly

Excuse me orange32

Hi frizz

Glad you recognised me

DS is doing soooo well in so many ways. I have been blessed with his school- I know from here that it is not so easy for every parent.

Friendships are still improving and at times I get a lump in my throat when I hear spontaneous genuine laughter from DS and his FRIENDS

I think teenage years will be tough, but we'll cross that when we get to it.

Now you, young lady.....what about this new career direction? It sounds like you've made progress with DS?

There is something seriously screwed with DS's vestibular/auditory/visual system moondog. This impacts everything from his balance/handwriting to learning to read to his audio processing & receptive language skills. We've opted for "astronaught training" via Skybound (as they are ABA friendly in terms of best motivating him).

The ASD rigid thinking etc is still there, but nowadays it's minimised in terms of impact as much as I think it can be really. When I can afford it I'll fund the listening programme & some more specific visual skills training. Intermittent SALT, (ABA style for best impact as it's the higher social skills such as idioms etc DS still needs help with now) may still be needed, and I want to go with an ABA type bod for emotional skills training next year. (hence why I chose the skybound OT - wanted a consistent approach).

I'm thinking to ask the community pead if DS can have an NHS assessment for DCD/dyspraxia as DS's problems with his sensory and motor system are a bigger barrier educationally now than his ASD. Certainly when I wrote my objection letter recently to the new LA about shoving him in mainstream again it all came down to his sensory/motor issues, rather than his social ones.

My old area had no NHS support at all for these conditions, so in order to get OT on his statement it had to go thru the ASD team or not at all. I think in terms of help for work/public exams though it would be helpful to have a standalone diagnosis now though perhaps? I'm not sure, just kinda mulling it over in my own head tbh right now.

Thanks Boc. Interesting as always to get your perspective as well as everyone else's. I've been doing a lot with OTs in the context if Precision Teaching recently. Tremendously effective. If like to do more.
You are in good hands with Skybound and the fantastic Risca.

Thought again about tangible benefits of 18 months worth of OT once a term:-

Initially the NHS OT was the one who cracked interrupting DS's frenzied freeze or flight response. That made SALT and any other behavioural intervention 100x more effective.

Then she gave him a years worth of daily exercises to help his vestibular system, that coupled with vision therapy means he was able to learn to dress himself - mega stress reduction every morning which in turn made the whole day run more smoothly for him. 6 months later when he could change with the rest of the class for swimming he felt he'd got somewhere - mega self esteem boost.

He now wears hiking boots instead of shoes and trips less on a daily basis - suddenly made ordinary boys playground games achievable with some instruction on the rules. Then we learnt about the use of ear defenders and his DS to help with his pitch sensitivity - melt downs reduced significantly. A weighted blanket has reduced the incidence of sleep walking.

He still can't do shoelaces, tricky fastenings etc but in a very real sense OT has improved his life skills and quality of life.He can barely write his name legibly, but has a lot to say for himself so I'm hoping that his handwriting getting to the point where he can jot down a phone message will be another giant leap forward for him.

bochead, if you ever get the chance to hear Sheila Frick OT speak, I think you would find her very interesting. She teaches in England sometimes.

She does a course on the Visual-Auditory-Vestibular triad which is a one-day seminar on how these link together.

Redoutable I'll pm either tonight or tomorrow if that's ok! Don't want to hijack this thread again

frizz looking forward to it.

Sorry again orange

Any links redoubt?

Here boc

You'll have to search on there....my eyes are sticking in my head and I'm off to bed !

boc

I came across this as I was looking for something else today...you might find it interesting.