Over the last few months, we have been trying to get our son the therapies he needs to help him prosper in life. We took him to an Occupational Therapist for an evaluation, shortly after he was first diagnosed with Aspergers. She did the eval, and told us he didn't have any major deficits in his fine motor skills, he did however have sensory processing disorder (SPD). She then went on to say, that in order to help him with his SPD, she would need to see him on a daily basis, which was not feasible. We left, bewildered and clueless, as this was all so new. Fast forward a few months. After a gradual ,yet severe regression in our son, we sought out a second opinion with a new psychologist. Our son was now diagnosed with Autism. Mild, yet autism just the same. The new psych told us to go back to the OT with his new diagnosis, in hopes that she would treat him. The morning of the appointment, the first thing she says to myself and my son, is NOT "hello," or "good morning," but, "I don't understand why you're here." Let me interject for a moment. My son is an AWESOME judge of character, always has been. He can read people better than jaded adults who have learned a thing or two about the way of the world, and the people in it. When he first met this OT, he was very stand offish. When my son meets you, he either likes you, or he doesn't. If you ask him why, he will tell you, "it's a feeling." Now on this morning, as soon as she said that, his whole demeanor changed. He went from happy and smiling to frowning and nasty. He was all over the OT room, he wouldn't sit still (worse than normal). She then decided (probably to make me happy) to do some more testing. This time she was testing his visual perceptions and memory. This hour long test was hell. LJ was so rude, telling her, "your breath is fousty." "You're boring and mean." Now my son is not always an angel, and he is blatantly honest, but I had NEVER seen him act quite like this. I also have to admit, that I had a really hard time telling him he was being inappropriate, because in all honesty, aren't we all at times jealous of the innocent honesty that our children can get away with? You'd be lying if you said no. That there hasn't in fact been a time in your life that you would have liked to tell someone (ie: your boss, your inlaws), exactly what you thought and felt in the heat of the moment. Though your better adult judgement and proverbial "filter" stopped you in making this major faux pas. Also, during this extremely long test, at no time was she encouraging my son. ASD or not, EVERY child needs positive reinforcement when asked to do something out of their norm. The "professional" couldn't be bothered, so as usual, it was me cheering him on. Only towards the end did she start to positively reinforce him. Either out of despair in trying to get this done and over with sooner, or out of fear for the eyes, searing into her soul, every time she happened to glance my way. When all was said and done this time, she now informs me, "unless your son has difficulties in fine motor skills, I can't help him." STRIKE 1: First visit we are told it "wasn't feasible to provide him with daily therapy for his SPD. STRIKE 2: After subjecting our son to that series of hellacious tests, she has now changed her story to, "without the FMS delay, I can't help him here." Oddly enough, as I was writing the draft of this yesterday, (LJ was in speech therapy) she came out to go over the results of the new testing. LJ scored from 6 yrs to almost 11 yrs on these tests. To which she tells me, "there is nothing for me to help him with." First of all, has she ever heard of Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures??? ASD kiddos do have good visual learning and memory skills. This is not what we came to her for help with. When I asked her about helping me put together a sensory diet for him, she told me, "that is going to have to be trial and error on your part. I have no recommendations for you." ( At this moment I was mentally recommending she pucker up and kiss my arse!) So, I am left wondering, what exactly she went to school for? Why on My Autism Team, is she listed as "Autism Friendly?" Where is the friendliness, and where is her "expertise" on children with ASD? She certainly didn't seem to know squat. So, we're back to square one, at least where occupational therapy is concerned. We will be continuing to treat his SPD at home since there are no other OT's in our area.
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