Category: Uncategorized

OT Approved – Now What?

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized1 Comment

After an evaluation and a meeting with CPSE (Committee on Preschool Special Education), we were approved for Occupational Therapy twice a week. We start in February.

I felt relieved leaving the meeting. I knew he’d benefit from OT, but I had the thought in the back of my mind: “what if they say no?” Luckily we were all on the same page. Great! Now what?

Now I get 6 pages with names of agencies that provide Occupational Therapy throughout my county. 6 Pages!

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No really, this is great that there are so many resources! But where do I start? Since Sensory Integration was our main concern, we discussed during the meeting that it would be beneficial to find an agency with a Sensory Gym. However, I was told that with us being in the middle of the school year, it may be tough to find an agency with availability. After a few suggestions of agencies, researching online and looking up feedback in Facebook groups, I started my quest!

First agency I tried: no availability.

Second agency: left a message.

Third agency: has to get back to me.

Fourth agency: no availability.

Fifth agency: Availability! I’ll take it! Whatever it is! Sign me up! No problem that its 25 minutes away, I don’t care!

Thankfully, a friend brought me down to earth. It’s a little crazy to take my son and 1 year old daughter that far away when there are other options closer. There are two other places that are more conveniently located that I hadn’t tried. One in my town and I had to leave a message. The other is about 15 minutes away and they had availability!

The one in my town called me back and out of everyone I spoke with, I felt the most comfortable with her for one reason: she actually asked about ‘J.’ She didn’t just say “sure here are your options.” The Occupational Therapist I spoke with asked how old he was, if he went to school and how he was doing, what my concerns were, and figured out the best time for him. This conversation definitely put me at ease.

I went through a similar process when looking for a Speech Therapist and feel so lucky with how that turned out. I just hope he enjoys OT and trusts his therapist there, the same way he does with speech.

When is it Empathy and When is it Sensory?

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized5 Comments

This is a question I asked our speech therapist in the Spring of 2017. My daughter was a few months old at the time and if we were in the car when she started to cry, my son, ‘J’ would cry and tell me to help her. When he first did this, I thought it was endearing and a little heartbreaking as well. Although I don’t doubt that those things actually exist, I started to realize it might be more than that. I questioned it more when we were with my niece and if she would cry, ‘J’ would request to “go home” or “go to his room” so he could calm down. I questioned it when we were out to eat with his friend after a playdate and his friend cried because he wanted a toy car. ‘J’ once again would start to cry and ask to leave. One night while laying with him as he fell asleep, I started googling (always an interesting activity) and realized this might be more than just empathy.

As time went on, I noticed how often he seemed overwhelmed in various situations. I also gave it some time to see if it was a phase he had to grow out of. It wasn’t.

He was Woody from Toy Story for Halloween and the back of the costume had velcro. This was the first time he ever seemed bothered by clothing. From then on, he asks for tags to be cut out of his clothes. We visited a drive -thru Christmas light experience, which we thought he would love! As soon as we arrived, he took one look at the large guitar playing lit up snowman and lost it. It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. I felt like I was watching him experience a real life nightmare.

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I started reading more into Sensory Processing and my gut said to seek out an evaluation. With the upcoming holidays and a Disney trip on the horizon, I wanted to make this happen sooner rather than later. Luckily I was able to get the evaluation done before the New Year and before our trip. I started to make notes for the evaluator regarding my concerns and when I was done I had over two pages. I was surprised, but once I thought back to things in the past I had brushed off and the recent months of new experiences we had, there were more than a few red flags.

This week we were approved for Occupational Therapy (OT) twice a week. I’m so happy and can’t wait to start! Seeing how much he’s grown and progressed with speech, I knowbeing in OT and doing exercises at home will help him better process his surroundings.

In recent weeks I’ve done even more research, joined Facebook SPD Parent groups and just started reading ‘The Out of Sync Child’ that I ordered on Amazon. Knowledge is power, right?

Click here to check out a video posted on YouTube explaining Sensory Processing Disorder. The video was posted by MichaelGrass House.

From Grunts To Words: Our 1st Year With Speech Therapy

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I wrote this back in September. Although a little outdated, it explains how this journey began.

September 2017

10 months ago our 2 year and 3 month old son grunted instead of talked. His birthday is in June and we knew at that point since he wasn’t talking, he either needed a little more time or we may need to have him evaluated. We decided to go through the summer, give him some time and see what September brought. 

Where It Started

At about 4 months old, he started sleeping with a Mickey stuffed animal and at 14 months he was saying “Mickey.” This was also the time he started walking so we thought he was right on track with developmental milestones. After a few months, we noticed new words were not being introduced. Sometimes he babbled mama and dada but never in context. Every once in awhile we thought we would hear a “hi” but it was a stretch. About a month before his 2nd birthday, we realized we hadn’t heard “Mickey” in awhile. We kept an ear out for awhile and realized he wasn’t saying it, whether prompted or not. This was our first red flag. Not only had no new words been introduced, but now the 1 word he did have was gone. He spoke in grunts, pointed to things he needed and wanted and we understood it all. He turned 2, we gave him the summer and by September nothing had changed. We were afraid of pushing him if he wasn’t ready but more afraid of holding him back from being the best he can be if he needed help. 

We started looking on our county’s website for the details regarding Early Intervention Services and getting him evaluated. We kept going back and forth as to whether or not we should move forward. Were we too worried? Maybe he just needs more time. Maybe we need to be doing more. Ultimately, we decided to move forward in the process, which we heard could take some time.

He was evaluated on his gross motor skills and his speech. The evaluator for his motor skills knew quickly he was right where he needed to be in that area. The evaluator for speech could tell he understood everything she said, but wouldn’t use words to communicate back. She had a toy that popped. She played with it over and over saying “pop” until he did.  After a few tries, he said it and we were amazed! A few weeks and many signed forms later, we began speech therapy twice a week for 45 minutes each. Luckily, the therapists we were working with also conducted a mommy and me class twice a week and we took the opportunity to attend those as well. All of this was covered by the county and we paid nothing for our son to begin his journey towards speech. 

Once he was approaching his 3rd birthday, about 7 months in, he had to be re-evaluated since the services would fall under the school district once he turned 3. There was a debate as to whether or not we would be able to continue because of how much he knew and understood. Luckily, they could see that he still needed work on sentence structure and pronunciation. We were approved to continue services twice a week for 30 minutes each until his 4th birthday. 

Where We Are

One year later from starting the process, we’re about 10 months into services and have a chatterbox that just started Nursery School. I’m not crying, you are…

Looking back at these 10 months, we think about all the little milestones. Saying “boo” for blue-amazing! Using words in context-wow! Putting 2 and 3 words together and now using sentences, asking questions and singing the Frozen and Moana soundtrack – verbally he’s a completely different child. 

To say I’m grateful for the service coordinators and speech therapists we’ve worked with, would be an understatement. They offered support and care for our son and our family that we could never begin to repay. The work they do, the patience they have and the guidance they offer is above and beyond any expectations I had. I’m happy we will continue to work with our same speech therapist. Our son is so excited when she’s coming over and to us she will always be family. 

My advice to other parents would be to trust your gut. If you feel there may be a physical or speech delay, have them evaluated. The evaluators will let you know if your child needs more time or if they could use some help. It’s worth it for them to have the best opportunity to grow!

Now that we’re in January I can say that he absolutely loves school! His teachers and friends are great and he’s learning so much. His speech continues to improve and I’m so excited by all the progress he’s made!