So Happy the Appointments....

are done for the week.

I've never been so happy that a week is coming to a close. I think there were just too many reminders of things going on this week and it made it all very hard to take in.

Yesterday Zach had a pretty good OT session. Ms. Jerry and I were able to go over some more strategies for Zach and to really talk over his 6 month review on his care plan.

I think what upset me about his care plan isn't that he still has one but that it is just a reminder of his issues. Sometimes it is rather hard to see where we came from and the improvements that HAVE happened.

The first section of his care plan is Current Level of Function -- that is where it all starts, that is for me the hardest part to read. It is a constant reminder of him not being where he needs to be. I am going to be brave and for the first time type up word for word what this one says...

This is a 6 month update since Zach's re-assessment in June. He continues to exhibit mild fine motor delays and sever motor planning difficulties (dyspraxia). In addition, he is having moderate to sever social-emotional issues and sensory issues at home and at school. He suffers from sensory overloads many days after school. During school he refuses to interact with the other children or engage in interactive play. He is very sensitive to the other children/adults remarking about him being "different". His self esteem and self confidence is suffering. His teachers have followed threw with only part of the recommendations made for helping meet his sensory needs. Zachary continues to need sensory strategies to help him stay at the just right level of alertness for learning and to help him deal with sensory overload. He continues to need a familiar "pal" of a familiar adult to be his buddy in new situations at school and help learning new motor activities. His family is also exploring visual aids (aac) to help him with communication when he is experiencing sensory or social "shut down".

Okay while I'm at it (and this feels good to let it all out) I'll move on to his Progress to Date -- this has its ups and downs for me a good aid for what he can do but again still points to a lot of what he can't do yet......

Zachary met goal#1 and is now crossing the midline of his body spontaneously with minimal displacement during gross and fine motor activities. He partially met goal#2 and can use scissors correctly to cut along an 8 inch line within one half inch accuracy, but needs min. asst. to hold the paper. He met goal#3 of increasing participation in swinging activities on the playground and does this at 90% accuracy. He did not meet goal #4. He colors a three inch shape, but is not staying within 1/4 of the boundary. He can stay within 2" of the boundary. He is not yet stabilizing his arm on the table surface for drawing activities which reduces his accuracy. This goal will be retained. He also did not meet his goal for using age appropriate writing/drawing precision 50% of the time. He continues to use a fisted grip, but will retain a fingertip grip for a short while after help to place his hand on correctly. Zach has made significant progress in visual tracking. Shortly after his last re-assessment, he went for an eye exam. He received glasses for an astigmatism. His excessive eye blinking, eye rubbing has decreased significantly. He will occasionally exhibit it when he has had unfamiliar visual stimulation during the day (new places, people, ect). He is tracking in vertical and horizontal patterns. Goal will be retained to increase accuracy especially in circular tracking. He met goal #7, responding when his name is called 90% of the time during therapy sessions. He partially met goal #8. He will complete play activities alone or with a family member or clinician. However, he will not play with peers yet. He will parallel play with familiar peers. He partially met goal #9 and can follow a 2 step direction with 75% accuracy. However, he cannot repeat the direction, possibly due to language difficulties. He partially met goal #10, and is tolerating some bumps and touches at school. However, he is extremely guarded about other children being in his space, and interprets many minor touches as "owies". He does tolerate riding the bus to and from school.

Next comes Rehabilitation Potential --- his is good (and that is a large plus in my book) most time she doesn't comment here and this time she did saying.....

Zachary continues to need skilled occupational therapy to assist him in participating in age appropriate occupations at home, school, and in the community secondary to motor dyspraxia and to a sever sensory processing disorder.

If you've made it this far reading I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Time to make some calls to the doctors....I'll update with that later.