OT assessment, what to expect?

[expatinscotland]

DD1 has her first assessment 23 July. Finallly!

She is just turned 4, dx dyspraxia.

Not potty-trained at all, wide gait, doesn't run normally, hand-flapping when she's excited (her legs spasm, too, if she is sitting down when excited), doesn't copy anything whilst drawing or writing, only scribbles, although draw a circle but no other shapes.

Concentrates well but has had gross and fine motor skills delays first noted at 8 month checkup.

Any suggestions of what to expect or any questions it would be wise to ask?

Anyone, anyone?

ds(9) had one a few months back . She got him to try various physical activities so she could observe and gauge his movements, effort and difficulties, following age appropriate assessment questionnaires. So ,for example, he had to reproduce patterns and follow lines with a pencil, write his name repeatedly to time, balance and throw/catch etc. This took about 45 minutes (may be less for a younger child). We and his teacher had already filled in questionnaires about his development and behaviour whcih I passed on then we had a discussion about him generally while he and dd played. This should be the first step in a process so come away clear as to what they are proposing - sessions , home exercises etc - and they should put a report together based upon her assessments and the questionnaires.

I'll look out the names of the assessments she used later if you'd like.

He did the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement ABC) - manual dexterity section - and Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI)

Ds1 was a similar age when he had his (3.5yrs). IIRC they had a number of toys set up for him and were looking to see how he used them. Things like:

a toy till - they asked him to take the coins out of the drawer and looked to see if he used his whole hand to grab them or whether he used just his fingers.

jigsaw puzzles - looking to see how he picked up the pieces and if he was able to manipulate them to put them in to the right holes.

stacking cups - again looking at things like ability to manipulate the cups and able to put them in the right order.

The OT also went through a questionnaire with me. The questions were sensory-related IIRC and asked about the kinds of things ds1 liked/disliked and the things he was able to do.

I think they asked him to draw a line, a cross, and a circle but he couldn't draw any of those things. I think they also tried some throwing and catching with a bean bag but ds1 just kept throwing himself on to the floor so that he didn't have to do it.

I would ask for ideas of things you can be doing to help dd1 while you're waiting for OT help. They usually have books that they recommend. I would ask what their system is for OT and how you can access it. Ds2 is 4yrs old and has just been moved from the pre-school OT list to the school-age list. The access to OT for school-age children is done via an open access clinic where parents can either visit in person or speak to the OT over the telephone. It's worth finding out what they do in your area. I would also want to know what their waiting lists are like for OT. Ds2 got help fairly quickly but ds1 was on the waiting list for 2 years or so.

Well it went okay!

She has some issues - coordination, of course, and drawing. Concepts particularly. She does okay at imitating someone drawing, but if asked to copy from a visual, no go. And she just scribbles - no representative drawing.

Can't jump, hop, hold her balance on one foot and some other things, so we're starting with some rolling the ball game tonight.

She also has no hand dominance at all.

Of course, they want to see her back and start her on therapy.

No surprises, really, given her dyspraxia.

Now I'm just waiting for her DLA request and I will NOT worry about the learning disabilities she's probably got as well. At least not yet.

One day at a time.

Thanks for all your help!

23 July is her SALT review. I got the two mixed up.