Tuesday, April 15, 2008

A new philosophy....

So Ryan had a great session today at Occupational therapy. His therapist introduced a new swing that Ryan (and Ethan too) absolutely loved. She attaches the platform to the rope on the ceiling and puts a huge inflatable tire on the platform. The best thing about this new swing is that it also bounced, similar to a bungee apparatus. Ryan LOVED it and this was the longest he has ever been on a swing, other then at the playground. He loved the swinging, loved the bouncing and loved sharing it with his big brother.
We moved into the food room and Ryan has not been making much progress as far as food goes. That is the one thing I really feel like we have not gone anywhere with. He still has problems even looking at new foods, let alone eating them. The last few sessions (and therapy times at home) he screams and cries until we take it away or he throws it. I mentioned another approach that I had learned about at the Columbus Speech & Hearing Center and lo and behold, Kathleen, our beloved therapist, is also trained it this philosophy and is willing to work one on one with Ryan. It is called SOS, Sequential Oral Sensory, developed by a psychologist named Kay Toomey. You can read more about it here. So I really feel like we need a change as Ryan has been doing the same food therapy since October and we have made very little progress. We will be trying this new method and then possibly doing it with a group using peer models.
And unfortunately, we have to start cutting back on how often we go to OT. We will now go twice a month instead of 3 times. Our insurance only covers 20 visits and that is quickly approaching and unless someone is willing to give me an extra $600 a month, we just can't swing paying for it out of pocket. We have had great progress as far as sensory integration that I am really ok with it and know that Ryan will be getting OT when he starts at his school in the fall.

1 comment:

Amy Lemaniak said...

I hope the new food therapy works, Kelly. Good luck!