OT: Day 28/30

We are getting down to our last three days of therapy!

This morning,I asked Ms. Renee to do something specific for Turbo. As of late, well, he has always done this, but especially lately, he has really flipped when he doesn't get his way, or things aren't just so. Granted, he is 5, but where is the line drawn between 5 and SPD? He didn't respond quite as I had hoped, but a great word was borne out of the session.

Our time was mostly spent in the "Kitchen Room", where Ms. Renee brought out puppets to play with and a model of a brain. To review the big brain/little brain lingo, puppets were used to talk so that the environment was nonthreatening when it came time for situational learning.

At first, Turbo was happy to oblige in the puppet play. He was able to effectively communicate the terminology as well as give examples of how the big brain/little brain dialogue.



When it came time for situational learning such as a visit to the dentist, he was not as obligatory. He used excuses such as the dog puppet hearing his mom calling his name as a way out, or simply saying the words, "No Thank You." He would even go as far as hiding beneath a chair or table, or just move to the farthest part of the room so that he would not have to mock-play going to the dentist.



While playing with the bubbles, I had a chance to talk with Renee. She suggests continuing with a psychologist who can help with his anxiety issues. She believes that when specific events happened earlier on, say going to the dentist, his SPD didn't allow him to take in all that sensory information/input so he could not process the experience properly. When that "overwhelming" feeling occurred, he shut down and went into Fight or Flight mode. For him, it seems to be Flight. Keeping this in mind, she explained that now he has tools to self-regulate in these intense sensory situations, he is still dealing with that emotional bond to that specific event. A psychologist will be able to help us and him sort through that so that a positive emotional bond is created that overrides the negative. Now, with any future over sensitized situation, Turbo now has the ability and tools to self-regulate.

Parts of me understands this, and yet there is another part where I shake my head no, and wonder if it is just a spoiled 5 year old who had ignorant parents, but have since become the wiser.

All this to say, I did get the name and number to the recommended psychologist for that "just in case" day.