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Please talk to me about sensory integration


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I'm psyching myself up to contact an OT about handwriting support/accommodations, and help with self care skills.

 

I'm also wondering about sensory stuff. DS tends to become overwhelmed quickly by noisy environments, and also has some sensory-related behaviours which will become problematic as he ages, if left unaddressed.

 

So, what are we looking for in an OT, in this regard? A sensory diet?

 

Please furnish me with questions to ask any potential OT!

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Not a lot, and not in a while (I got a bit distracted by food and sleep issues - couldn't see the forest for the trees, perhaps). I'll try again.

 

Are RR something we can work on at home alongside everything else?

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I'm not getting much time at the PC these days, and researching anything by phone screen is a right pain.

 

So please, anyone, feel free to recommend books to me. Bonus points if I can get them on kindle. :)

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The Out of Sync Child is the best book on sensory issues.

 

It has been a while since dd was in sensory integration therapy, but it worked miracles that I honestly never expected. Fair warning: it doesn't always look like they are doing important work, but trust the process. I would have sworn that spinning on tire swings and naming colors were just games but they somehow re-programmed dd's brain. We went in with a child who was incapable of feeling dizzy, sensing cold, or controling her eye movements, and came out with a child who could do all that and more.

 

It can be time consuming at home, especially if they recommend a brushing or joint compression routine, but the payout is a calmer, more engaged child.

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The Out of Sync Child is the best book on sensory issues.

 

It has been a while since dd was in sensory integration therapy, but it worked miracles that I honestly never expected. Fair warning: it doesn't always look like they are doing important work, but trust the process. I would have sworn that spinning on tire swings and naming colors were just games but they somehow re-programmed dd's brain. We went in with a child who was incapable of feeling dizzy, sensing cold, or controling her eye movements, and came out with a child who could do all that and more.

 

It can be time consuming at home, especially if they recommend a brushing or joint compression routine, but the payout is a calmer, more engaged child.

All really good to know - thanks a lot.

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The Out of Sync Child is the best book on sensory issues.

 

It has been a while since dd was in sensory integration therapy, but it worked miracles that I honestly never expected. Fair warning: it doesn't always look like they are doing important work, but trust the process. I would have sworn that spinning on tire swings and naming colors were just games but they somehow re-programmed dd's brain. We went in with a child who was incapable of feeling dizzy, sensing cold, or controling her eye movements, and came out with a child who could do all that and more.

 

It can be time consuming at home, especially if they recommend a brushing or joint compression routine, but the payout is a calmer, more engaged child.

 

Plink, are you the one who did disco balls and swings and got the sensory seeking to STOP ENTIRELY? Somebody said this, and I keep thinking about thinking about it. I need whoever did this to ENLIGHTEN ME.

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That wasn't me. I wish it was!

 

DD's senses were either non-existent or hyper-responsive. With therapy we recovered the non-existant senses, and lessened the intensity of her sensory seeking. It was not able to make the seeking stop entirely, but it did help bring both ends of the spectrum closer to center.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, we're booked in with an OT for a "full assessment" in a few weeks. I'm not sure exactly what this entails, but the OT is very experienced and comes highly recommended by a family friend.

Edited by Pegs
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What I'm finding now with ds is that we can get his body calmer, but when we let off the exercises things go back. :(

This is both encouraging and not.

 

The exercises which help your DS - is it not sustainable to keep at them? I'm just wondering why you'd let off. You're under no obligation to indulge my curiosity, of course, but I welcome your experience if you care to share. :)

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This is both encouraging and not.

 

The exercises which help your DS - is it not sustainable to keep at them? I'm just wondering why you'd let off. You're under no obligation to indulge my curiosity, of course, but I welcome your experience if you care to share. :)

 

The reflexes are staying integrated, so that's not really the issue. I think it's just the fact that it's so much sensory input. He's a huge, huge sensory seeker. Like even if he does competitive gymnastics 3 hours at a pop, multiple days a week, he's STILL sensory seeking. We add competitive swim onto that, hour practices multiple days a week, STILL sensory seeking. We do this funky brushing and the reflex stuff, which takes maybe like 15-20 minutes at a pop, done several times a day (3-4, I shoot for 4 and don't necessarily make it, so 3 is my gut your butt around and really get it done number), and WOW the difference.

 

I just brushed him before bed. I don't time it. We have 4 reflex exercises, vestibular work, and brushing of the feet, back, and cheeks. I brush his feet 3 ways (light stroking with fingers, then a nail brush, then a really course boar bristle brush) and sometimes do deep pressure too. The PT said to shoot for two minutes for each body part with the brushing. I'm definitely doing more, and he of course horses around. So it FEELS like I'm spending 2 hours a day doing it. I don't really know, because I don't time it. 

 

I try to do the inputs first thing when he wakes up, a couple times during the day (1-2) and then definitely before bed. That's how I get to the 3-4. What I find is, especially with his feet, that when they're closely enough spaced he "holds" really well. So like when I go to stroke him, he's not crawling out of his skin with sensitivity but can just use an app or watch a tv show and move on. Apparently totally typical people you could just do this stuff to and it would feel like nothing. For him, it's very irritating for the sensory. But when the brain processes that, it does what the brain was looking for I guess. I have no clue. I'm just saying the difference is SO dramatic, I really have to keep doing it. 

 

But why we can't make it stick and fix, I don't know. When you find the answer, enlighten me. I've been to 5 OTs? I forget. What a hack occupation. These people get paid too much. I swear I get so sick of $100 an hour "experts." I seldom meet any who try as hard as some of us moms. Instead they feel entitled, all because they have some stupid masters degree from somewhere, and they think they're annointed or deserve what they're getting. They don't. They take the same money as people who know more, and they don't learn enough in their programs. Some are like used car salesmen, peddling things they learn about. I'm so worn on it. 

 

The lady who taught us this sensory stuff made hardly anything off us. I think I did 5 sessions at maybe $80-120 each. Totally changed our lives. Less than OT and accomplished way more and no deity complex.

 

So good luck on your evals. Did you ask specifically about retained reflexes? Because you wouldn't believe how many know NOTHING about them, absolutely nothing. Don't screen for them, don't know about them. That tells me the problem is the schools, the programs. That's why I'm so over the whole expert thing. I don't know what they're teaching in the universities, mercy. Certainly isn't the stuff we NEED. The field is too big, in reality. OT is like SLP, where they're being trained to be all things when they need incredibly detailed, specialized training for some of these areas. (removing rant about SLPs)

 

So yes, hopefully you'll learn a ton! Is the person SIPT certified? If they come well-recommended, that's a good sign. Share what you learn. We'll be fascinated to hear. There was someone here on the boards who said they got the sensory-seeking to totally chill by going sorta ALL IN on sensory. Like 6 hours a day of intense sensory, till the body finally said thanks, that was it, and totally stopped it. I have yet to accomplish that, lol.

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Edited by OhElizabeth
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Pegs, I do not have personal experience with OTs yet, so I'll just offer some information.

 

First, Sensory Integration Therapy is the therapy that I have personally researched for my own boys and it has studies backing it:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3708964/

 

If it is something you might be considering as well, ensure that the therapist is SIPT certified.

 

Two, many OTs now have other certifications as well. For example, one therapist may also have behavioral therapy certification, or DIRFloortime certification. Some have both. Not sure how things are where you live though. That is something you could look into if there is a specific certification you are looking for.

 

Three, I would have the therapist interact with my child and observe, before committing to a specific person. If your funding is limited, you want the best person that gets and can work with your child. It may help you avoid issues like having to switch OTs and wasting valuable time, funds, and a possible bad experiences for your child. I have heard/ read cases like this so the more you know, the better it might be in the long run.

 

Wishing you all the best,

 

Marie

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Thanks Marie.

 

I don't know that sensory integration will *necessarily* become a therapeutic goal - it's something I'm exploring. I know that I as a parent could definitely use some guidance as to which sensory-related quirks should be addressed, and which should be accommodated, in any case.

 

I have a good first impression of the OT following a telephone call, and I think DS will take to her. We are definitely not committed to anything other than the initial evaluation, at this point. I'm really taking all of this one decision at a time!

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Thanks for your reply too, OhE.

 

It does sound like an awful lot of work that you're doing with your DS in terms of input.

 

I'm sorry that OT in general has stuffed you over, though. Sounds like you've spent a lot of time and money on quacks, and I appreciate the heads up.

 

(Posting quickly before my phone plays up and eats my reply!)

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I think you are very wise in weighing pros and cons and figuring out what is best for your specific child. Yes, therapists are eager to make money at the end of the day. It is no coincidence that whatever therapist I have looked at locally, their fees are such, where a specific number of visits each month will net them our entire funding for the year. So we are the ones left to figure out what will be the most useful area to tackle with formal therapies. Every therapist will of course claim that that area is the one within their area of expertise. In any case, careful desensitization for sensory avoidance, one where the child has control over the situation, can be very effective and easily done by the parent. Keep that at the back of your mind as well.

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OTs aren't quacks and nobody I've been to has been a quack. The field, like a lot of these therapy and medical fields is just very large. It takes time to find somebody who has specialized and learned what you need, and sometimes people you'd THINK would have that knowledge don't have it. 

 

A lot of this knowledge is unfolding. It's not like we're talking absolute stuff. Take the Mahler book on Interoception. This is very new stuff! Some of these fields are not even 20 years old. 

 

So you just have to keep asking questions and learning. Use someone while you're making progress and move on when you stop.

 

We haven't done anything with dessensitization. It's not really an issue here, so far as I know. The most helpful part of an OT eval is finally getting words for the things you're seeing and connecting dots.

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