O.T. and school relatedness

December 17, 2003

Hi Everyone,

I got half of the OT report.....the Adaptive PE teacher is doing all the gross

motor assessments and that is forthcoming. His fine motor, visual etc is fine

and within age appropriateness for a 5 yr old. I don't disagree with this but

there is a problem with how we see the sensory part. Apparently, at school he

does fine in the classroom...tolerates noise, transitions, other kids touching

him, and the teacher told her he is showing typical behavior as far as the

sensory stuff goes. The OT saw him finish a drawing, and flap his hands briefly

which she concluded that he was happy and proud of himself. She stated it

wasn't a self stimulatory behavior etc. I'm in amazement that during the 6.5

hrs of school they don't see the following which we see at home on a pretty

consistent basis:

hopping

arm/hand flapping

hand wiggling

complex type whole body movement (kind of freestyle)

all of these can be done while pacing

he has started to add a kind of grimace at times as well

When he is stimming he is not always focused. If he does it is while watching a

train move, or ball roll, kids sliding etc., then he is really focused on that

object or person, but other times its just hit and miss. Its kind of like he is

in a zone and most of the time I can pull him out and get him to stop.

Sometimes we are eating dinner, other times we are just playing or I'm doing

things around the kitchen and he starts going. I really wish I knew why

I know he must have sensory issues as movement triggers it the most, but not

always. And the incident at the zoo was very intense (I think I told you about

that). He did do stimming behavior in his last 2 classrooms on occassion though

it never seemed to interfere in with his schoolwork.

My question is.....can I get them to address the issue of the stimming even

though they are telling me its not happening there or interferring with the

schoolwork? I know that the OT you recieve at school has to be tied to

something that affects his educational performance and apparently its not. I

really feel like getting a IEE but if I do and they say he needs to be brushed

or whatever they tell me, if it wasn't affecting his education would it even be

considered valid to a school. I may not be clear....its late

Any suggestions?

Its so great to know that I have you guys to talk to about this kind of stuff!!!

Johanna

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