So.... I was given the name of a place called Children's Therapy Corner by someone and I gave them a call. I knew the moment I talked to Becky on the phone that this was a good thing. She was sooo supportive- she understood all my anxiety. So I set up a consultation appointment with them. Caelan and I met Julie who is the Speech and Language Therapist there and also heads up something called Play Project. Caelan interacted really well with her. So we set up appointments for evaluations at Children's Corner.
Their facility is a medical setting. The only down side of that is that we had to have a prescription from the pediatrician to move forward with evals and therapy sessions. Well that took a lot longer than anticipated.... long, irrelevant story. Anyway.. it took a little bit of time and we didn't get started with things until early August.
So they did speech and OT evaluations. Some of it was the same as the school as far as testing "tools." Matt and I went back for follow up and discussed the reports with the therapists. It was still difficult to hear them say that our son is as behind as he is. To hear reference to him being in an 18-24 month range in certain areas. Wow.
I have spent a lot of time over the past 5 or 6 months blaming myself. from the very get go of this whole process, all I could think was, "How did I miss this? How did I not see these problems?" or "What did I do wrong as a parent?" I have spent a significant amount of my life working with kids. I have taught, I have run after school programs, I have volunteered in children's hospitals and churches, I spent a summer working with special needs kids... I say all of that simply because, I have spent a LOT of time around a LOT of kids. One would think that I would recognize delays in development in my own kid. One would think. But I digress.... and I refuse to let myself get pulled into that lie. I know Satan likes to play on our emotions. Well, dear evil one... my son is not an area for you to play with.
Back on topic!! One of the best things about going to Children's Corner is that I understand things now on a whole different level. I get it.
Caelan has a sensory processing problem. That's kinda the very basic explanation. But it affects everything. His speech problems are more related to "motor planning" than anything. There are some mixed signals in his brain in the processing of language, sequencing, planning processes. the sensory aspect of everything has been AMAZING to learn about.
Kristine is my new hero. She is the occupational therapist. She likes to explain that we don't have 5 senses... we have 7. Yes, 7. You ever wonder why they teach us incorrectly in school? I mean, I remember finding out that Christopher Columbus didn't actually discover America and thinking, "Then why teach us that as kids?" And now to find out that we don't have just 5 senses, we have 7! Cool! Ok so it's not that simple. Well, we all know the basic 5 of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. There is also vestibular and proprioception. Our balance and our sense of position.
Kids who have a sensory processing problem are usually either hypo or hyper in each area; under-sensitive or oversensitive. They respond in an abnormal way to basic stimuli. And because their senses don't respond normally to all that is around them, they behave differently. There is defensiveness in the system. Caelan is hypersensitive. He likes firm pressure and touch (hugs!) and he is very disturbed by some lighter touches. He "seeks" movement (swaying, jumping in his bed) but he doesn't like swings and slides or for his feet to leave the floor (remember the poor sense of position??) It also explains why is doesn't like pools. Like I said, I suddenly "get" all of this. There are things that he avoids because his sense of things is sooo way off and the body creates a defense mechanism. It's not that he just doesn't like swings and slides or water, his body screams to him that it is dangerous; it literally terrifies him. That is actually a very heartbreaking thing for me. To know that the basics in a kid's life are actually fearful for him. I just want him to be able to enjoy things in life. What therapy does is help the brain remap itself, to rework the pathways into a new understanding of things and therefore able to function differently.
All of this affects.... eating, sleeping (not for Caelan thank God!), interpretation of people/communication, play and physical activity, speech and language, daily functions, you name it.
All of that being said, we have been going to therapy sessions 3 times a week and already see huge changes in Caelan. (Makes me wonder how far along he would be if we could have started 3 months earlier.) There are steps backwards as well because there are changes, but overall it is good. Guess who went down the slides at the park the other day... yep! Our boy! I will definitely post some pictures and videos of that type of progress. He has also recently started singing songs.... another really big thing. Like I told Julie one day at speech, they're little things but they are such HUGE things.
Anyway... this post has already gotten extremely long. There is still so much more to explain about all of this. And because I am finally sharing all of this, I am just letting it all come tumbling out of my brain. It has been a roller coaster for the past several months. I see how Caelan has changed over the past 9 months or so... things that he used to enjoy but doesn't anymore, things that he is more sensitive to.... how some days are great and some days he is all out of sorts.
I am sure I will have many more ramblings on this subject. And all that comes with it. But for now, I think I have tossed an awful lot on your plates to start soaking in.
I will provide links to websites as well.
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