Therapy Update - 2 Months

Trent has been going to occupational and speech therapy now for almost 2 months. *If you want to know more about our journey to therapy, click here.* I feel like this is a long-term journey we'll be taking with lots of peaks and valleys. 2 weeks ago I was feeling very frustrated but after a good discussion with Ms. Maggie {and maybe some tears shed by this mama}, I am feeling good again!

First, I think Trent is working with a great group of ladies. He likes them all and will tell me stories about them after his sessions. We call this place his 'special school' (maybe it's just me but I feel like therapy can have a bad connotation as he gets older, so I want to keep it positive), and he is always ready to go there. So that in itself is a huge blessing to me!

Speech - Trent sees Ms. Jamie and Ms. Julie. Ms. Julie admitted his 's' is going to be hard to tame, but she knows we'll get there. We are constantly reminding him to put his tongue in his mouth (but never making a big deal out of it). They work in his sessions a lot on looking at his mouth in the mirror and swallowing with a straw to focus on keeping his tongue behind his teeth. Speech is also where we tackle his food aversions. So far we have made progress with apples. Meaning he will eat them at home. He has also tried grapes and carrots but so far won't eat them at home. Both his therapists are impressed with how easy it is to get him to eat the food for them...too bad it isn't easy for me!  Ha!  We try peas on Friday...he used to eat those when he was much younger, so that would be a great one {I hope} to add!

OT - Trent sees Ms. Maggie and Ms. April.  OT is where more of the stress comes into play for me. We had a run of 'bad' reports from school. Lots of hitting friends. Biting Miles. Tantrums. Scratching/biting/hitting me. His therapists have identified some other areas that T needs help with (his core strength, some hand coordination). I told Ms. Maggie I wanted to stop really focusing on those things right now because it seemed like the outbursts were not really getting any better. She printed me an article called 'How Does Your Engine Run' and it was all about a person's arousal state (how you operated each day - feeling high, normal or low). Reading this article was like a light bulb going off for me.  Trent is a CLASSIC 'high'.  He wakes up energized, easily gets out of control/distracted, described as 'hyper', can have trouble with friends, very hard to go to sleep.  BINGO! Bullseye! He gets overstimulated very easily and can't process how to get himself back to normal which is why we have so many outbursts. Kristen also reminded me (having nannied for 2 children with similar needs) this isn't about discipline. He has a sensory need! Seems to simple when you say it like that. Maggie and April are putting together a sensory diet (specific activities/exercises we'll go through daily with Trent), and we've also discussed getting a weighted blanket to help him settle at night and 'chewlry' for him to chew on instead of chewing on me! It's all very preliminary and in the early stages, but I'm so excited!!

So there you have it.  It's been an interesting couple of months. I do admit that sometimes I feel down about all this. It isn't easy to hear about a 'bad' day at school. I hate that times are a little harder for him right now. I do lose my patience with him more than I'd like even though I know he can't help a lot of what his body is doing which I am really working on. But I get a nice reality check when I see other children come into the therapy center with visible problems. It hits home that my son is smart, funny, kind, loving, adventurous, and overall ADORABLE. I'm so thankful that we've been able to identify some {really in the scheme of things} minor issues that can be resolved with a little hard work from us all.  I know in the long run he will be amazing...because he already is!