OT--Occupational Therapy

Matthew had his first session today with the occupational therapist. Up until now he has gotten most of his services thru the school system and this is the first time we had some kind of therapy thru the doctors office. For now he is going to go weekly and we will see what happens from there. Honestly, I wasn't 100% sure how I felt about the occupational therapy for him. It just seemed that what the doctor was focusing on was different than what I was worried about. I tend to focus on his social skills and what he is lacking but I think first they want to build some confidence in his fine motor skills and see what improvements can be made there. So I just wasn't sure that this was the route I wanted to "spend my money on" if you will. Andy pretty much felt the same way about it as I did, maybe even more so and we have spent time talking about the OT....not that he doesn't need it but more like does he need it right now.

Well, after going with him today I did see were he could benefit from the OT. The therapist did work a lot with him on his grasp when he writes with a pencil (he uses all his fingers to hold the pencil and write) and some work with strengthening the muscles in his hands. She also had him using a "grabber" to grab small toys off the floor while he was being swung in a hammock-like swing and he thought that was a lot of fun and it there again made him use his hand and arm muscles. It took a few minutes to convince him to climb by himself into that swing...he really wanted to, but his standard answer to something that looks really difficult is "I can't". So she helped him figure out a way to get into the swing with some help and by the end of the session he wasn't saying "I can't" at every new and difficult thing. Mental note: something to work on with him at home (and myself!) because he does say he can't do something a lot and I can get impatient with him because I know he can, he just hasn't tried.

So all in all, it went really well and I can see the benefits of this, so I'm pleased! And Matthew had a good time there so I can't complain about that and as long as the insurance keeps paying, I will keep sending him! ;) And of course whatever his doctor suggests we will keep in consideration. Actually Andy and I are very happy with his doctor. She hasn't given him an actual diagnosis of Aspergers but she still says he really is too young. And after our last visit with her in October she isn't fully sure yet if that's what he really has or not. She says she has seen some kids like him where they kind of "dance around" the symptoms and you can't really tell if they have it until the kids get older (more like 8 or 9 years old, if I remember right). Basically she said it could be Aspergers or it could just be some sort of delay. I've got to say I'm almost inclined to believe he does have it but we will wait and see. And quite honestly the diagnosis isn't terribly important right now (his doctor was upfront and said that too) it's more important that he can just get help for the troubles he does sometimes have and that he is happy. He is quite happy most of the time...he can be moody but I think we can all safely blame his mother for that! ;)

Ok so that's a long post and I really need to go and watch t.v. ! Seriously!! It is Wednesday...."Lost" starts back up tonight and my dvr is set to record, however, it only has 1 hour and 50 minutes of space left and I have it set to record 2 hours worth of "Lost".

The pictures are from a light dusting of snow we had before the last snow pictures. It thrilled the boys and then later in the day it got very sunny and beautiful (but cold) out and Matthew got to stay home from school that day. I figured it was a perfect day to bake a cranberry/almond coffee cake!