AimeeM Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 The Marvelous Flying Marco did, of course! His Interventionist recommended it, given Marco's ER trips (only 2 in his life, but we realize he will be *that* child - the one who keeps us in medical debt into retirement, lol), and what she's observed during her weekly visits with him. We had to wait for a while, because the EI wanted one specific OT for Marco (somebody who deals less in fine motor skills and stuff for this age, and deals more with sensory issues and "self awareness" (read: keeping Marco aware of his body, and his limitations, and safety). The first thing the OT said after spending 5 minutes with him (him running to the sofa, jumping on the sofa, running across the back of the sofa, performing various olympic gymnast worthy acrobatics involving the living furniture) was "he's definitely... a sensory seeker". Then she brought an exercise ball ;) I winced. I knew what would happen. She tried to engage him with bouncing nicely on it, on his rear-end, but he had other plans. As soon as he had two seconds, he rolled it to the couch and used it to jump (well, he attempted to use it to jump), with his feet on the top of it, from the ball to the couch. Yeah - the ball rolled out from under him. Then he decided it was best used in every way the OT *didn't* want him using it. First visit she was curious *how* he would use the items she brought, but by the second time she had realized she couldn't be curious with Marco, because he would do everything in his power to give her a heart attack. ... and he has almost succeeded in doing just that. She is wonderful and SUPER energetic, but by the middle of a session, she looks like me - frazzled and wondering how he's going to hurt himself next time. Let's look at the stringing blocks incident, shall we? I had warned her that if she brought blocks with numbers or letters on them, be would become so obsessed with the numbers/letters that whatever else she had planned for him would be lost. Sure enough, there are numbers on the blocks (I know their resources are limited, so it is what it is - I'm good with that). She showed him how to string them on the lace, but he only counted and stacked, counted and stacked, counted and stacked. She finally handed him the lace, I'm sure thinking that he would figure out. Bright boy and all :D Nope. He promptly took the string, smiled, put it around his neck like a necklace. She said "no, no, no - not around your neck". I cringed. When you tell him "no" it's a challenge - he realizes that you don't like what he's doing, so it must be SUPER neat, right? He smiled bigger, looped it tighter around his neck, and took off running. She spent most of the rest of the session chasing him around the house. By the time she's halfway done with a session, he's decided he IS done, and sits neatly, quietly on the sofa just watching her, but refusing to engage. It's not her fault. I hope it doesn't sound like I think it is. I think she's great. Hopefully he starts engaging... appropriately... soon. He did really enjoy a couple of her games (like he loved being swaddled as an infant, and he REALLY enjoyed when the OT took the yoga mat she brought and wrapped him up tightly in it and applied pressure with the exercise ball). Hopefully she comes to love him as much as his ST and his EI do (who text me when we've missed a session - "I miss Marco! Has he done anything, said anything, great lately?"... even though I know he frustrates them at times, over time it's become an affectionate frustration and they've learned to bring him back to their focus... and he loves their visits now - he waits by the door and says "fren" (friend) and falls over himself excited to see them. Because the OT had verbalized that she wanted to see how he interacted with her and her toys the first time or two, I only got in the middle of it once (well, beside the many times I physically stopped him when he was doing headstands on the couch - safety issues and all that fun stuff); when she tried to place him in a time out (or, rather, suggested to him that he needed to take a time out) when he was throwing a tantrum. I know my son - a timeout only throws him completely over the edge when he's already upset; it goes from crying tantrum, to sitting in a time-out space banging his head up against the floor, or wall, so hard he hurts himself. I'm not anti-time out at all (we used "breaks" with my other two); they just do not work for Marco. So I asked him if he needed a hug. I'm sure I came across as a pushover, but he nodded and came over for a hug - and stopped crying after a minute. There is nothing he responds as well, as quickly, or as APPROPRIATELY to, as he does affection - he thrives on tight, warm hugs and it works to calm him when nothing else seems to. Just thought I'd update. He's fun. Most of the time :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 He sounds a lot like one of mine at that age. I honestly went and bought the Little Tykes jungle gym with 5 foot slide and put it in our living room for a few years to try to channel the energy into something appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I don't have a busy child who uses furniture for kamikaze style entertainment, but I *am* considering going mostly furniture free for health reasons. Perhaps you'd like to consider it with me? :) If only for a few years and your sanity. http://www.katysays.com/furniture-free-ahs13/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I think your OT sounds wonderful. My son was also a handful at that age and OT was life changing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Isn't Marco the little guy who doesn't sleep? Any luck on that front yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I never thought I'd say this, but I am really glad we had a sensory avoider (who with OT and age has mostly outgrown or learned coping skills for his sensory issues). Sounds like you have a good OT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 Isn't Marco the little guy who doesn't sleep? Any luck on that front yet? Yes, he is and no, we haven't (had any luck on that front). Before she felt comfortable recommending a weighted blanket, the OT wanted to work with him a bit, to make sure it would benefit him. The other day when she left, she said that she felt comfortable with a 3 or 4 lbs weighted blanket for him, if we wanted to try that. He was up from about 1-3 or so this morning, and then up for good about 6:30 or 7 (not sure exactly when he woke up - I just know that I woke up to a mess in their room and a toddler who wanted interaction). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.