Here are some pictures to start. Mason loved sitting in this cubby in my dollhouse that I had growing up. He was so happy and comfortable here that he pointed and said "hi" to everyone in the room...even our Canadian guests. (=
Mason's appointment schedule has been a little off in the last week or two. Last week, his speech and OT appointment were canceled because of the snow. He did have his second OT appointment where my dad came to the appointment. The OT commented that Mason is so different depending on who is there with him. Mason was very engaged in playing throughout the appointment. He was not very good at settling down and letting her do some body work with him. This is not something she ever pushes because it's important for him (and anyone) to be able to communicate that you don't want someone touching you. We were able to talk through some things though. One way we engage with Mason all the time is wrestling and tickling. Because his body needs input, he loves it. She had an interesting thought about tickling him. Since his body and reflexes are off in how it responds to a lot of touches, tickling may confuse his brain more in how it is supposed to respond. All the body work includes purposeful, routine movements on him. This is supposed to create a specific response, which it usually does. If we tickle him, it can throw his brain off in knowing how to response because it is not purposeful. It was an interesting thought that we have been processing. I probably did not explain it nearly as good as she explained it to me, but this is what I understood from her. (=
He does not have any of his three appointments this week because of Thanksgiving and therapists taking vacation. He did see an orthotic doctor from Mary Free Bed yesterday. The doctor is so great because he came to Mason's preschool to meet with him and other students. The doctor, his school physical therapist, and his speech therapist (who came in on her vacation to be there Mason!!) were all in the room for the appointment. It's was an awesome opportunity because Mason is familiar and comfortable in his school now, and Mason behaved perfectly!! He allowed the doctor to trace his foot and try on different orthotic sizes on him. He even wanted to include all of us in his play by pulling everyone over to where he was playing. It was so awesome to see him engage with two brand new people without any prompting. He played as we were all discussing options for his orthotics. The goal for the orthotic is to give him arch support to help his overall balance as well as preventing him from toe walking. If he continues to toe walk too much, the tendon in his calf may not grow as long as it should, and he may need to have surgery/casts to repair it. They did not want to give Mason too stiff of an orthotic (that goes all the way up his leg) because it is really important for Mason to experience all the sensations and reflexes of the foot movement. He needs to learn how to make sense of these sensations, so if an orthotic takes the sensations away, it can be detrimental to his sensory processing. Who knew there was so much to think about with feet?!? They decided to do a thin bilateral orthotic insert (to give the support) with a thin carbon plate on top (to stop toe walking). We will also have to get two sets of tennis shoes (one for inside and one for outside) with a removable insert, so we can put the orthotic inside. We will get a call next week letting us know how much it will cost and how much our insurance will cover. Fingers crossed that our insurance covers most of all of it!
He also had his 3 year well-visit appointment with his pediatrician yesterday. We have not been to his pediatrician since his 2 year well-visit since all of his evaluations have been done through the school district. Just a few things to update them about. (= Mason was perfectly behaved at this appointment as well!! He weighs 38 pounds (95th percentile) and is 38 inches tall (75th percentile). She said that physically he looks really healthy. I updated the doctor on everything going on with Mason and what therapies we have in place. She asked about potty training, which I said was something I have no clue how to do with him since he has trouble communicating many needs and would sit in his poop for days without noticing. She gave me the name of a book about potty training developmentally delayed children and thinks we can do it before he is 4. I think that'll be my summer project. (= We also need to take him to the dentist in the next year...another experience I am not looking forward to, but she gave me the names of some great pediatric dentists that work with all kinds of kids. The biggest part of the appointment is that she strongly recommended going to Devos Children's Hospital to get him tested for autism. She said that it takes approximately a year to get in for the testing, so starting the referral process now is really important. Getting diagnosed with autism could open up more services that can be helpful. We are open to any testing that could be beneficial, so we started the referral process.
I have heard a lot of people talking about essential oils on facebook and other places. My daycare provider started telling me that she heard oils can help kids with sensory issues or autism. I started doing some research and saw a lot of information validating the benefits, so I jumped on the essential oils bandwagon. I bought mine through Native American Nutritionals after researching all the companies that sell them. We've been using them on Mason for a week now. It's hard to tell if they are making a difference or if he is just having a good day. We will see if they help over time. This is a stretch for me as I am usually a skeptic on things like this. (=
All of these appointments and strategies can make you overwhelmed and second-guess yourself. There is no perfect way to navigate this process. Since every kid with SPD or autism are all so different, there is no set formula to follow. So many questions...Should we have gone through our doctor and gotten Mason evaluated for autism earlier? Are the orthotics going to inhibit his processing of the normal walking sensations too much? We got tubes put in his ear in May, should we have gotten them earlier or did putting the tubes in mess up his sensory/auditory processing more? Which OT is more valuable as we won't be able to continue seeing both every week once my insurance restarts in January? It's important to remember that we make the best decisions with the information that we have at the time. Hindsight is 20/20, so of course, we are going to wish we did a few things differently while looking back. I am happy with what we have in place for Mason right now and in the future, so I will focus on that!
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