OT: Day 24/30

Daddy was able to come with us again today, but the biggest break through in Turbo's therapy came when he had a meltdown.

He chose to play on the monkey bars and zip line today, and both Ms. Renee and he came up with an obstacle course to include the two.

She was saying that for Turbo to self-regulate or even organize himself, proprioception (pressure on joints) is best for him, because vestibular activities (such as running, spinning, jumping) are FIRE RED HOT activities. So hanging on the monkey bars and swinging his core was very organizing for him.


Everything was going great until, he was challenged to do the monkey bars without using the trapeze bar, which is a lot easier. When asked to compromise, he threw a fit, kicked at things and stomped off. In a way, it was good for Ms. Renee to see, although it was a mild meltdown/fit at that, but she also provoked it to see what he would do and how she could get through it.

In the end, it was decided to move on, not talk anymore about the monkey bars, and to encourage him to get into a quiet time. For this, she gave him the barrel tube, which would make things dark, turned off the lights, and gave him small toys to play with and his chewie. This worked out great. She moved on. Do ya hear that missy? (talking to myself)....move on.

After that, we moved on!

We played the Balloon Lagoon game again, which I found super cheap on Amazon.com and it is now a Christmas gift...sweetness...

Although this time, he was sandwiched in between pillows in the prone position. When he is organized and self-regulated, he listens better, plays games better and is overall more focused. By putting him in the prone position, this helps him tremendously.


I also was able to look at the Stress Level Charts and the Noise Level Meter. I will be making those TODAY!!!

OT: Day 23/30

Again, we were blessed by Daddy's presence at OT. However, getting there was the hardest part! We were stuck in traffic in gridlock for a bit and had to rush to get there!

When we got there, Ms. Renee had a great idea of using pretty much EVERY swing they had to make an obstacle course. This was to help strengthen his core muscles, which allow him to sit still when in the proper posture position. It also challenges him to make a plan when going through the course. By using the swings, each time he goes through the course, his plan has to change because the motion of the swings aren't the same every time. Again, his implusivity was evident as he just wanted to go, but struggled with staying on the swing without touching the ground. Once he realized that making a plan to go through the course was a better idea, he did a great job with only touching the ground once.



SPECIAL DELIVERY!
Love letters were sent between Daddy and I and Turbo was to deliver them! Using a rope suspended between the two of us, Turbo laid on his back on a scooter while "climbing" the rope back and forth. He carried our "letters" with his legs. This forced him to strengthen his core muscles, and also forced him to use his vision in a different way. He had to look upside down and backwards.



To help with the vestibular input, we did some proprioceptive input and jumped rope with him. But to work on his impulsivity, we asked him to get in rhythm with the rope before he began jumping.



At the end, we went into a new room that had a microphone. At first, I was dreading this because Turbo equipped with a microphone=disaster!

But Ms. Renee had a chart (HA!) and a meter reader specifically for voice control. One of our goals was to help him realize that there are certain times and places where loud voices are okay, and then other times when it is not. The meter reader was color codes much like his engine meter reader. Only this time, the clipart was different. She also had a chart much like the volcano one for his emotions, but this one read for how loud noises/voices were and what it does to someone's ears.



Using these charts, she had him play with different voice levels with the microphone that was hooked up to headphones. Hee, Hee...he had to listen to his own voice right in his ears when he screamed...talk about a taste of your own medicine! At first, he didn't notice, but when Ms. Renee spoke loudly into the microphone, he immediately took off his headphones and said, "No thank you, I don't want to play this anymore." After some prodding, it was because her voice was too loud...SUCCESS! He realized it! FINALLY!!

I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of the charts, but I'm sure I can next time.

OT: Day 20/30

Today's plan included a barrel, a trapeze, "Animal Planet" and charades; not all together at once.

To begin with, Turbo and Ms. Renee set up the safe area with pillows, the barrel and the trapeze. This activity was fun for him because it gave him the vestibular input, but was designed to strengthen his core muscles. Playing on monkey bars, and things that give him the resistive pull is a great source for him to build strength in his hands to help with his writing.



The next swing was a game of saving the animals by bringing them to different planets. The swing allowed him to wrap his arms and legs around which helped with muscle core strengthening (sitting still muscles), but also a vestibular input which he loves. By adding a cognitive element it helped him to focus more and learning is more likely to take place. Ms. Renee sat behind him and showed him the beanbags with letters on them. This way, Turbo had to turn his head and use his peripheral vision to see the letters, and to focus his eyes on something while his body was moving. What surprised and didn't surprise us at the same time was how "smart" he was. The task was to say a name of an animal that begun with the letter on the bean bag. He pretty much got it right each time. We both looked at each other and agreed that we think he is smarter than he lets on. She again encouraged a gifted program.



We discussed how this could be used at home. Using a ordinary playground swing is a way to do this, but the core strengthening is lost. Another option is to use the rope swing at my paren'ts house, but to add a disc seat to it. That way he could sit down on it while I pull him and help him with his "learning". She said that there are some places in town which sell circular disc seats, but I suggested that maybe at Home Depot there is a disc seat for playground sets.

We moved on to a game of Charades. This game is boring in of itself for a 5-year-old, so adding an obstacle course to go through before having to act it out intensifies the game. Using charades helps Turbo, who likes to go fast, to stop to read and understand verbal cues which he would otherwise miss because of his speedy impulsivness. Having him act out emotions as well is something that would benefit him.



As I walked away from this session, I realized more and more that our "school time" will not really consist of pencil and paper as much it as I initially thought. Our "school time" needs to look more and more like OT until Turbo and I figure things out together. My next task is to look into a gifted program that will suit our family.

Any suggestions out there?

OT: Day 16/30

Beginning with self-care, we applied chapstick for our Dinosaur Protection as we were going on a Dino-Safari. He used a strategy of dabbing his lips on his shirt after the chapstick was fully applied instead of wiping it off full. YEAH! PROGRESS!

We entered into the realm of the dinosaurs and climbed onto our Land Rover equipped with our stun guns! His Land Rover was a swing that he had to stradle which worked on his posture and balance. Crossing mid-line, we had to use a NERF gun to shoot suction darts at dinosarus that were drawn on the window. Unfortunately, the guns weren't working that well, but it was good to see how he would react. Usually, he would throw it, and get upset, calling it "STUPID", etc. But he didn't. He kept trying different methods to try to get it to work. It did a couple of times, but it didn't keep his attention long enough.


Off to the quiet room to work on his Vision Program. He did the same thing that he has done in the past, but this time, we turned off the lights. He relies so much visually on where his body is in space and time, that she wanted to see how he would react: He fell off the board. Good to know. Must mean that we need to work on the Vision Program more!

He then tackled his Jedi Knight training again. Although this time, she stepped him up to the third level because he desires a challenge. He did good, but I had to remind him that, "PRACTICE MAKES BETTER!" - because of his perfectionistic tendencies...insert mommy guilt here.

To do a GREEN/BLUE activity, we went into the small gym to talk about his VOLCANO. She equated it to his RED ALERT or his anger.

She had him draw a picture of what he may be feeling at each stage, he did this as his climbed the rainbow.

OT: Day 15/30 - HALF WAY THERE!

Yesterday was our half way marker! It was a pretty typical day in our activities. He played in the helicopter swing We discussed how that for some kids, swinging and spinning disorganizes some kids, but that it seems to help calm and setting Turbo. That being said, I can now understand why he spins like he does. He has found something that soothes him, but drives me CRAZY!! (I'm the adult, I'm the adult!) So for pretty much the majority of our hour-long session, he spun around and grabbed beanbags while trying to throw them to knock down frogs on a log (or aliens as they have now known to become).

During our discussion, she approached me with something that I still haven't chewed full on yet. She suggested that we look into some type of gifted program. At once she could see my hesitation, and continued to explain. Turbo is a bright kiddo, but there seems to be a lot more going on inside his head that even he cannot fully explain. She reassured me that she wasn't talking about reading/writing at an 8th grade level at 5-years-old, but that he is gifted in the WAY he thinks. She called him a gifted thinker. OK, I can see that.

Common Characteristics of Gifted
While it is rare for a gifted child to exhibit all characteristics, it is
common for a gifted child to manifest many of the following:

Good at problem-solving
Learns rapidly
Extensive vocabulary
Good memory
Longer attention span
Compassion for others
Perfectionism
High degree of energy
Prefers older companions
Wide or narrow range of interests
Unusual sense of humor
Early or avid reader
Insatiable curiosity & persistence
Intense concentration
May question authority
Advanced sense of conscience
May demonstrate intense emotional and/or physical sensitivity
Exhibits creativity
Ability with puzzles, #s
Perceives abstract ideas
Sees relationships

Here is what I found to help me differentiate the two:

BRIGHT KIDS and GIFTED KIDS.
A Bright Child....(B)
A gifted child....(G)

(B) Knows the answer
(G) Asks the questions - sometimes deep probing questions of an abstract nature.

(B) Is interested.
(G) Is highly curious

(B) Is attentive
(G) Is mentally and physically involved

(B) Has good ideas
(G) Has wild, silly ideas

(B) Works hard
(G) Plays around, yet tests well

(B) Answers the questions
(G) Discusses in detail, elaborates

(B) Top Group
(G) Beyond the group

(B) Listens with interest
(G) Shows strong feelings and opinions

(B) Learns with ease
(G) Already knows

(B) 6-8 repetitions for mastery
(G) 1-2 repetitions for mastery

(B) Understands ideas
(G) Constructs abstractions

(B) Enjoys peers
(G) Prefers adults or older children or seeks out other very bright or gifted peers.

(B) Grasps the meaning
(G) Draws inferences and opens up new questions.

(B) Completes assignments
(G) Initiates projects

(B) Is receptive
(G) Is intense

(B) Copies accurately
(G) Creates a new design

(B) Enjoys school
(G) Enjoys learning - but may hate school.

(B) Absorbs information.
(G) Manipulates information

(B) Technician
(G) Inventor - Loves construction toys

(B) Good Memorizer
(G) Good guesser - draws on vast information store.

(B) Is alert
(G) Is keenly observant - seems to remember fine details.

(B) Is pleased with own learning
(G) Is highly self-critical - can be a perfectionist to the point of tantrums when young.

(B) Enjoys straight-forward and/or sequential presentation
(G) Thrives on complexity - needs the whole picture. Requires a gestalt approach.

**GESTALT APPROACH**a structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts


Afterwards, we continued his Vision Therapy which is coming along, but we would like to see it further. Guess I am going to have to work on that at home too.

He played the ZOOM BALL and climbed the rock wall, then we settled for a game of rhythmic activity.


This activity helped him focus on a moving object (Vision Therapy) while having his body moving (sitting on the ball), and being able to cross mid-line. Since he didn't crawl very much as a baby, his mid-line crossing isn't the greatest - which somehow connects with the brain and allows...yada yada yada - my brain was mush by then.

Then of course, it was the Jedi Knight training room. (He totally loves this room)

Then she drug him down the hall. Which of course, he loves too!

HALF WAY DONE!

OT: Day 9/30

Friday was Pirate Adventure Day in OT. To begin with, Ms. Renee had him swing from a rope to land onto the pirate boat. Although, I am pretty sure that this was not a part of her plan, Turbo's impulsivity paid off and served a good purpose. Later, she told me that having him jumping and swinging was a good way to set things off. First off, he received the proprioceptive input by bouncing, vestibular input by swinging and then worked on his hand strength by holding onto the rope which will help improve his handwriting.


As his boat (actually a swing) floated near him, he was to commandeer the vessel and climb aboard to hunt for pirate's treasure. This was another way for him to have fun with lotion (or cream as he refers to it). She had placed a number of lotion tins around the swing and he was to open them and fish out the gold coins. At first, he wasn't too keen on the idea of putting his hands in the cream as they would get messy. But the idea of getting treasure was too strong and he overcame his desire to be clean and not messy. While he was doing thing, she was swinging the swing slowly to help calm him down after swinging on the rope.



Keeping with the pirate theme, she created an obstacle course for him to go through to save the animals in the ball pit from the evil pirates who kidnapped them from the zoo. Using his pirate's lens, he was to spot the animals (really just an eye exercise), overcome the obstacles in his way, dive into the ball pit and rescue animals and bring them back to his ship. He had a great time, but of course, you can see all of the Sensory elements coming into play.


To help with Tactile Differentiation (Semantic agnosia: Those with this form of agnosia are effectively 'object blind' until they use non-visual sensory systems to recognise the object. For example, feeling, tapping, smelling, rocking or flicking the object, may trigger realisation of its semantics or meaning - Turbo struggles with this. Because he is so visual, he is very dependent upon looking at something to find it, see it or identify what it is, rather than using other senses to identify it), Ms. Renee asked him to dive into the balls (again a lot of proprioceptive and vestibular feedback/input) to find the animals. This way, he would use only his sense of touch to find the animals.

After that, she introduced him to the rock climbing wall. This proves to be a calming activity, almost a GREEN (Just Right) activity because of the feedback Turbo gets on his joints or the deep pressure. This has the potential for Turbo to be a RED activity, but with constant redirection and supervision, it can be GREEN. The idea was for him to climb up to find hidden animals to rescue, and then climb back down. This also encourages him to look before he moves, which helps with impulsivity, as well as to devise a plan for his next step.



To help bring him down to a BLUE activity for the ride home, she gave him a weighted lap pillow/blanket and had him wear a weighted vest while blowing bubbles. Breathing exercises help calm him, while wearing weights provides deep pressure.






She told me that there is an older lady who volunteers her time and sewing abilities who makes these vests for kiddos for specific weight amounts and fabric choice for $25. But looking at it, I think I can sew one myself...ehem...I mean...show the picture to a friend who is a seamstress and buy the material myself. For those of you who really know me...my sewing machine and myself DO NOT PLAY NICELY TOGETHER!

OT: Day 8/30

One of our goals for Turbo is to get him to do self-care items without a fight or meltdown. Two self-care items that we struggle with are the use of chap stick and lotion.

In order to do this, Ms. Renee used different items to help desensitize his lips so that when chap stick was applied, he was able to "handle" it and not wipe it off. Although he did wipe it off, he was able to handle it being on his lips for a good amount of time.


Her recommendations are to just keep making this part of self care fun and to rewire his brain so that it isn't an event that has a bad feeling or bad memory attached to it. (Which I am quite sure that I was a part of...insert bad mommy guilt feeling here).





**NOTE: SUCCESS!!**
As of this entry, tonight at bath, Turbo put on lotion all over his body as well as let me put it on his face! At first he didn't want to because he didn't want to "GET MESSY", but he let me put it on because I used a little bit for a his leg, then while he was rubbing it in, I proceeded to add more, and more, and more without him shying away!

Our next stop was an obstacle course. The goal was for him to receive a lot of different input while coupling it with a cognitive activity. We set up bolster pillows and equipped him with a "car". Which I am not sure what it is, but the picture shows it. He was to maneuver his way through the course, pick up an alphabet pillow, take it to the end, (without crashing into things - which was to help him with his impulsivity of needing to hit something (proprioceptive) while or after a swaying motion (vestibular). Then he was to write with a wax crayon on the mirror, what the letter was that he picked up.



Moving into the next room, Ms. Renee worked on slowing his engine down to a BLUE or a GREEN level by having him sit on a spinning board. This allowed his energy level to calm down so that he can moving into a learning mode, if you will. They played catch an alien and flew to different planets. Although to Turbo it was a game, to Ms. Renee, it was a test. She wanted to see if how is tracking was. She would move the alien in all directions and asked Turbo to watch it with his eyes without moving his head. This was a struggle for Turbo as he doesn't move his eyes, he moves his whole body/head. She also was looking for how smooth his tracking was. In the video she talks about what she was looking for. She also told me that by lying down on his side, moves the fluid in his brain around that will affect his tracking abilities, thus making them stronger.




After ALL that spinning, Turbo NEEDED some deep pressure to balance him out. Usually he would seek it out on my furniture, his brother, the walls, me, friends, ANYTHING that would give him that feedback that he so intensely needed. So, Ms. Renee loaded up the "Jedi" game and had him track the lights while banging them out with a ball. See, for yourself...it is such a cool game and with the lights off too!


After all the movement, Ms. Renee took him into an enclosed "cave" (really just underneath a slide area), gave him some bubbles to blow (a calming activity - BLUE activity and read him a book). His weighted lizard was on his lap to help with the deep pressure and she spoke in a calm, slow voice. By being in an enclosed environment or tent, it closed out any visual activity that was going on (because he is so visual any and all stimulation while trying to be calmed would just override each other) as well as sound. (So I have actually found a USEFUL activity for his tents - you know - other than to annoy me!)

OT: Day 7/30

I'm a day late...and a dollar short...but what are ya gonna do?


Yesterday at therapy, Ms. Renee worked a lot of visual stimulation. We have all noticed that Turbo blinks excessively, but we could never figure out the reason. Her thought is that his occular movement isn't strong enough and that he gets fatigued easily.

We began the session with some hardwork to create a safe environment for him to "work" in. She suggests that any time that he can do "hard work" is good for him because it allows him to receive a lot of input on so many different levels. He was to drag HUGE pillows that were very large to the area where he would be playing. He did this excessively and drug 5 of this pillows to the play area...but whatever.

Next, he hung in a hammock but she inserted what to me looked like a diaper changing pad that goes on a table. Guess I have baby on the brain; or at the very least, dirty diapers...but I digress.

She gave him a TheraBand to use to help him swing while he was equipped with is music (which I have forgotten to mention that not only does it play music at certain decible levels, but it also vibrates on the top of his head stimulating that vestibral lobe...bunch of guru talk I know but somehow it makes a difference :) ), while sitting on his belly. She asked me to pull on the rope while he swung back and forth (proprioceptive/vestibular input) while she stood behind me with a dry erase board writing letters. He was to say the letters/sounds while moving. This was to help him keep his eyes locked on an object while his body was moving. It was to help strengthen his occular movement while helping him to stay focused while his body was moving. Something he struggles with. He did really well, but you could tell that after 5 or 10 minutes of it, he was becoming fatigued and began blinking, then he politely asked if we could stop.



Our next task was to strengthen his upper body and hands. I don't think that Turbo intentionally puts up a fight when it comes to writing, coloring, cutting or pasting, it is just that he gets tired and fatigue sets into his hands so he gives up. The obstacle course that she set up was to help strengthen his upper body and hands and to give me ideas on how to do some more work with him at home.

She gave him a small trampoline to use to jump on to jump up and hang onto a trapez bar (Hand strength/Proprioceptive). He was to swing 3 times (Vestibular) and then fall into the pile of pillows that he made (Proprioceptive). He was to crawl on his belly to a scooter board (Upper body strength) and climb onto the board. Then using only his arms (Upper body strength) he was to collect puzzle pieces and put them into a pile (Upper body strength/congitive/visual). Then he was to do it all over again.

Check out the video of him doing the course.




Afterwards, he continued lying on his belly on the scooter board and put the puzzle together. Again, he was conditioning his upper body as well as focusing on the puzzle in a position that wasn't the "W" leg position. He wanted so badly to get up but was encouraged to lie on his belly. He successfully finished the puzzle while on his belly...Good job! (This whole activity was so that he could come back down from a TOO FAST activity to a JUST RIGHT activity - he did great in the transition).

When he saw the ramp and the scooter boards, the plan when out the window to use the climbing wall. So they altered their plans in the book, and set to work building a wall of cushion blocks for him to ride the scooter board down and crash into the blocks. See for yourself the video.



This was a really good session, and I walked away with a couple of things to do at home:

1.) Have Turbo hang from the monkey bars, hubby's arms, or have him do pushups with daddy at night to continue to build his upper arm strength.

2.) Consider having a different range of activites for school that has to do with the floor.

3.) Ask really, really nicely if hubby can make a scooter board for us, or swallow the 12 bucks it costs to buy one at a specialty store.

OT: Day 6/30

So the weekend has passed, and we are on our way home from Albuquerque, NM, so I thought I would have time to write about therapy from Friday. A lot of time has passed, so I hoped that I can remember all that was done and learned.

My hubby had the opportunity to join us in therapy this time, and he walked away with a new outlook on what Turbo goes through.

The previous evening, Turbo had gotten a few scrapes from the playground. Nothing too serious, in fact, hardly anything; however, he HAD to have medicine and Band-Aides. When we got home, we started his bath, but he was so torn about wanting to get clean, but not wanting to get his "owies" wet. He would start to get in, but then would run out of the bathroom because he couldn't get them wet. When we asked him if he could just sit on the edge of the tub and put his feet in while he washed them, he thought it was a good idea, but definitely couldn't go through with it! He was absolutely hysterical! It was so sad to see him this way. You could clearly see that he wanted to get clean, but couldn't fathom the idea of getting his "owies" wet!

When we saw Mrs. Renee the next day, I mentioned to her what the previous nights events were. She asked, "Could he come up with a plan to help get him clean without getting particular areas wet?" Sadly, I had to tell her the he was so hysterical that he couldn't even function, much less be in the bathroom! She said, that she knew she had to work on tactile "information" and sensations, but now she realizes that she needs to work on it more. She recommended that we see a psychiatrist to talk about OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - funny, I jokingly talk about the fact that I must have it, but unfortunately, this is no laughing matter anymore). She wants me to talk with the psychiatrist about different things that I notice he does compulsively, because now she believes that there is more to him than his sensory issues. Not only does he have the sensory issues, but there might be some underlying issues as well.

She referred back to self-care for an example. She said that there might have been a time where "clipping" his toenails or fingernails might have been traumatic for him, and so now he associates clipping his nails with that particular instance, and is now defensive about it to protect himself from the hurt/pain/memory of it because he didn't like it the first time. Well, I can tell you the time that this particular traumatic event took place...I remember it well...UGH! I've scarred him for life! Moving on....

Sensory issues often relate to those kind of memories/events. But the emotional breakdowns and obsession with certain things are more on the psychiatric level...OI!...Good to know. We have an appointment with the doc in the next couple of weeks.

When we first arrived, there was another little boy in the lobby that was high-wired much like Turbo, and they were playing hard and fast waiting for their therapists. Once they arrived, you could tell, both therapists were nervous for the session! Ms. Renee took him into a room where the swing with the flat (square if you will) seat was hanging from the ceiling. She asked him to sit criss-cross, wearing his headphones, and asked me to swing him slowly and gently while he hung onto a swing. He was now getting proprioceptive feedback as well as vestibular feedback as he nestled into a balanced activity. He was now Just Right. To help, we sung Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

Once this activity was done, she showed me a way to help Turbo calm down even more. She had him sit on a beanbag chair, and showed me how to use a scrub brush to help him with his tactile sensation to help him tolerate something on his skin. It is also used to help "massage" his body to help bring him down to TOO SLOW or JUST RIGHT.

She had me rub him down on all four extremities and his back. I was to apply pressure so the bristles were not to tickle him, but give him enough sensation so that relaxation could occur. I would recite the nursery rhyme, "Peas Porridge Hot, Peas Porridge Cold". Afterwards, I would follow up with a proprioceptive activity that affected his joints. "Chuga-Chuga-CHoo-CHoo" - I would say that as I "accordion-ed" all his joints: shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers, hips, knees, ankles, toes, etc. It was amazing! I was able to use both this practices at the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque this weekend when he "HAD TO GET OUT OF HERE!". I sat him on my lap, rocked him, sung to him, stroked all his extremities, and Chuga-Chuga-ed. It was amazing.

Next, we went into the gym and he was able to play on the zip line and monkey bars. Receiving a lot of proprioceptive feedback with intentional cognitive learning. I can't quite remember all that was said and taught and reasons why for some of the things. But she mostly just showed us ways to him calm down using an exercise ball, rocking, singing, etc.

Overall, Friday's session was very valuable as I walked away with tools, exercises and then actual practice for things that were taught. Plus, some answers might be found as we meet with the psychiatrist.

Tomorrow is another session (Monday), and I am sure I am going to walk away with more invaluable lessons.

OT: Day 5/30

As we get deeper into OT, Ms. Renee is finding more things that we need to work on. Good in some ways, daunting in MANY! I know that by the end of these 30 session (with the hope of no more), Turbo will come out on the other side for the better, but the journey is tough, tough, tough.

When we arrived, he was BOUNCING off the walls. BOUNCING...literally. I had to pull him off the walls. When Ms. Renee arrived, she immediately said, "WOW! You desperately need some input!" - Yeah...ya think??

She took him back and set up the tire swing. Oh joy...this outta be a hoot.

Equipped with his headphones/music, Turbo had to work on crossing mid-line while batting the "asteroid" (aka a ball hanging from the ceiling).

The next swing was just a simply playground swing, but definitely beefed up. He was to lie on his tummy while trying to hit the ball. This activity is full of input.

Proprioceptive: Hitting the ball with the bat and running on the floor.
Vestibular: Spinning and twirling.
Cognitive: Crossing mid line while trying to hit the ball hanging.
Visual Stimulation: Concentrating on the ball so that he can hit it will receiving all this input from the senses above.

I'm sure there is more to this, but this is all my brain can receive to make sense of!

HERE IS A VIDEO OF THIS ACTION!


Afterwards, we needed to have an activity that helped him to SLOW down. So she asked him to sit on the swing and retrieve small stuffed animals with his feet, while swinging and return them to the zoo. This was to help him fine tune his hand-foot-eye coordination. Again, he is getting a lot of input while trying to cognitively focus on something - because he is so VISUAL.





To help him with this visual process, she had him swing in the swing while sitting on it and going around in circles. As he did this, he was to focus his eyes on me to see how many fingers I was holding up and say it aloud. At first, he would stop in mid-spin, look at me, say the number, and proceed to spin again. Ms. Rene stopped him and explained that he was to continue spinning but to move his head so that he could always look at me. Again he tried it, but desperately wanted to stop and look. He did it a few times, but you could physically see him keeping his head straight forward so that he had to stop and look. After awhile, his eyes started moving...you know the way they get when you get dizzy...yep that's what happened. No mess, but I bet it was coming soon!

Finally, time for a slow game. We played the game where him and I had our backs to one another and had to cross mid-line while touching each other's fingers. We went from high to low and then back again. It was difficult as he got lower because he had to bend over and reach across mid0line to touch my finger. Giggles happened a lot, but you can tell he has trouble with this.

Another game, in the same say, he had to pass a small stuffed animal from between his legs while I passed it over our heads back to him. Again, the movement of his head and body. He did better, but struggled keeping his balance!

To move to our final activity: story reading, she had him get into the wheelbarrow position and "wheelbarrow-ed" him to the tent to read a story. LOADS of input in this position. He laughed, but as much as I think he is coordinated, this proved me wrong!

Of course, meltdown in the car ensued, and when we got home, he went directly to LEGOS to build and really wanted nothing to do with me or Tank. He ate an ENTIRE Totino's pizza and went to bed happily. This OT stuff is wearing both of us out!

OT: Day 4/30

This morning, Turbo continued to work more on self-regulating. To begin with, he used the "helicoptor swing" as well as using his music. We also used bean bags with letters on them to give him the cognitive piece so that his vestibular stimulation and his proprioceptive stimulation would be used together.

As in the picture, he spins much like a helicoptor which stimulates his vestibular sense (balance, etc). This is a very calming activity to Turbo, which helps him to go to his TOO SLOW meter reading. However, the self-regulating piece is missing because he needs to proprioceptive piece to bring him back up to his TOO FAST meter reading.


This is where Ms. Renee gave him a rope that he had to pull himself up to her to grab a beanbag. This action gave him the pressure and the force that he needed to heighten his sense of proprioception. Once he climbed the rope to Ms. Renee, he was given the beanbag with a letter on it. He was to put it in order and then helped to sound out the word: CAT, RAT, BAT, SAT. Once he sounded out the word, he was given permission to continue spinning - again - vestibular sensation.



This cycle was continued four time: TOO SLOW, TOO FAST, TOO SLOW, TOO FAST, etc. Unfortunately, this is what Turbo does ALL DAY long, and he never gets the chance to find JUST RIGHT mode. Now, you can see my frustration of this day after day after day.

We added the third compenent to this: cognitive. The part where he had to think through all of this to sound out letters, put them in the right order (L to R) and think of their sounds, all while going TOO FAST, TOO SLOW. He did okay. He really enjoyed the vestibular motion the most.

Next, we moved him to the swing with the weighted animal and swung him slowly while he breathed 20 deep breaths to help him regulate his engine reader meter to JUST RIGHT. He did it in 5 minutes. YEAH! Progress!

We moved on to an activity that will help him stay regulated at the JUST RIGHT mode. He was asked to cut out pictures of different activities that simulate TOO SLOW, JUST RIGHT, or TOO FAST. That way, we can make our own Engine Meter Reader...(on my TO DO LIST).

Before his OT today, he was given the opportunity to participate in a LAB study to help the SPD Foundation further the research in this disorder. He did an awesome job and sat in a "spaceship" simulation while watching a short clip of Apollo 13 while they measured his heart rate, sweat response, etc. He even let them apply those sticky sensor things to his chest, fingers, etc. For that, they paid him with a $10 gift card to Target. His dream place.

Today was hard, better than the last, and progress is being seen. Tomorrow is another day!