The Little Man had an Occupational Therapy (OT) evaluation yesterday. We had seen one before at the Children's Hospital in the feeding clinic, but I didn't like the way they work (wanting me to bride him to eat good foods by using things like chocolate and ice cream). Not only that, but the psychologist there isn't great with autism and they don't really "believe" in sensory issues - it's just not their thing. So rather than butt heads, we thanked them for their time and stopped going.
Fast forward to us applying for the QC disability allowance and needing a real written evaluation done. I've already learnt that if you want something done around here quickly, you need to go private. Luckily, we have private insurance to cover most of this. The QC government gave me a month to supply them with evals in OT and speech therapy - I luckily managed to get that extended by calling, but all this stuff needs to be done. So I went to the semi-private clinic he normally goes to and got a new OT there. She actually works at the Children's (so again, not a big believer in sensory integration issues) but she did a total developmental assessment on him.
He needs some fine motor skills tweaking, but is mostly age-appropriate (3 years) which is great news. Because of that, we probably won't qualify for the disability allowance, but I don't care at this point. What was really helpful was having her confirm my Motherly Instincts (so useful when you listen to them!) about him really needing to focus on language and social skills.
It's just so annoying out there, with some many businesses trying to make money off of parent's fears and uncertainty - the whole, "if you don't do something right now and do it really intensively and spend eight hundred million dollars on therapy, well....."
No, I know my kid. I know him better than anyone. Crazy intensive ABA therapy would stress him out more than do good. He has problems speaking, maybe apraxia, maybe dysarthria, maybe both. It doesn't matter what, but that's what needs to be worked on. He's a good kid, a bright kid, a quirky kid, but one who is capable of learning and wants to learn.
So really, the OT just reaffirmed my instincts and strengthen my resolve to find a speech therapist who will go into his daycare maybe once or twice a week and work with him. I'm a mama on a mission, a clear mission, to continue to follow my instincts.
Fast forward to us applying for the QC disability allowance and needing a real written evaluation done. I've already learnt that if you want something done around here quickly, you need to go private. Luckily, we have private insurance to cover most of this. The QC government gave me a month to supply them with evals in OT and speech therapy - I luckily managed to get that extended by calling, but all this stuff needs to be done. So I went to the semi-private clinic he normally goes to and got a new OT there. She actually works at the Children's (so again, not a big believer in sensory integration issues) but she did a total developmental assessment on him.
He needs some fine motor skills tweaking, but is mostly age-appropriate (3 years) which is great news. Because of that, we probably won't qualify for the disability allowance, but I don't care at this point. What was really helpful was having her confirm my Motherly Instincts (so useful when you listen to them!) about him really needing to focus on language and social skills.
It's just so annoying out there, with some many businesses trying to make money off of parent's fears and uncertainty - the whole, "if you don't do something right now and do it really intensively and spend eight hundred million dollars on therapy, well....."
No, I know my kid. I know him better than anyone. Crazy intensive ABA therapy would stress him out more than do good. He has problems speaking, maybe apraxia, maybe dysarthria, maybe both. It doesn't matter what, but that's what needs to be worked on. He's a good kid, a bright kid, a quirky kid, but one who is capable of learning and wants to learn.
So really, the OT just reaffirmed my instincts and strengthen my resolve to find a speech therapist who will go into his daycare maybe once or twice a week and work with him. I'm a mama on a mission, a clear mission, to continue to follow my instincts.
That's awesome... wow I can't believe they "don't believe in sensory issues" WHAT !!!
ReplyDeleteyeah, she was like, "all they would do is spin him around in a hammock all day, but we don't do that stuff here..."
ReplyDeleteWell they do spin them on hammocks :). At first I was very skeptical of it all. But if it's not harsh therapy or meds I am in. It seems to help a lot of kids. Did she say what she does?
ReplyDeleteredirect, ignore them? Not really sure. I showed her a video of him flipping out and she had no tips.
ReplyDeleteOh wow that's helpful! Good thing you found someone else.
ReplyDelete