More Therapy

I'm all for throwing everything but the kitchen sink at my girl when it comes to therapies or programs to help move her development along in the right direction.  Of course, there's that pesky little thing called Time that tends to get in the way - gone too quickly, each little available gap sucked away by other stuff, swallowed away into the abyss where it can never be recovered. 

Time. 

There's just not enough.  But occasionally, an opportunity presents itself that's too good to pass up.

We'd been on a waiting list for OT at our therapy center where Sammi receives private PT and ST every week.  We love her therapists there, and feel like they've really made some incredible progress with her.  She loves to go there with her daddy, and it's not uncommon for them to run into other little friends from the Ds community there with their parents. 

Last week we got the notice that one of the staff OTs had an opening, and the timing would work beautifully.  (Man, I love getting off of wait lists!!) 

We had never thought too seriously about Occupational Therapy, as it has been one of Samantha's strengths for some time now.  The OT she has received from the school therapists over the last 2 1/2 years has been phenomenal, and I couldn't be more pleased with what Sammi's accomplished.  I never thought she'd be writing, composing messages (albeit very LARGE messages) on her own with the letters dictated to her, never thought she'd be writing her name on EVERYTHING, sans dictation. 

However, this OT is also a Sensory OT, which means he works with children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and other sensory issues.  I don't really know the extent of Samantha's sensory issues, but I suspect they're not terribly serious.  However, there are triggers somewhere in her environment that cause her to shut down, to dig in her heels and withdraw from everyone (for short periods, thankfully!).  We can't quite pinpoint those triggers, and we're excited about the opportunity to investigate deeper, with the help of an expert, to figure out the triggers and to help her learn to work around them.  Like I said, they're not major, for which we feel very fortunate, and they're not constant, but they're enough that they impede certain classroom activities, preventing her from participating in groups, stopping her from enjoying an event.  As she gets older, these triggers will be more and more plentiful in the higher grades, and she's going to need to be able to cope with them.

Her current teachers, who adore her, feel a little bit sad when it comes to group work.  They know she knows the subject and material as well as the next child, but she just refuses to show the class.  They truly want her to be able to show what she can do, to shine in front of her classmates.  What's going to happen in show-and-tell?  What about when she's asked to go to the front of the class to get her work from the teacher?  Tell about her weekend?  Receive an award?   

Sammi's first appointment is next Wednesday.  It'll all begin with an evaluation, which I'm anxious to hear the results of.  Then a plan of action, which I'm anxious to get in place.  Then, hopefully, work towards progress.

Fingers crossed...