Noah's 1st OT Appointment

Like I mentioned in my last post, instead of getting to go to Noah's first occupational therapy appointment, I was stuck in bed.
However, Brad did a great job of filling me in on everything he could remember (she gave him a lot of info!).

So here's the quick recap via Brad:
- These people are the best of the best in our area when it comes to sensory integration. They're also expensive. However, we're doing everything we can, along with (hopefully) getting some help from family to afford these people. When he ages out (at 3) of the system he's currently in, we can get services through the school system. Unfortunately, they aren't a part of that, and we'd like to keep them. So that's where we stand with that at the moment.
- Instead of having them come to our home, we're taking Noah to their clinic. They have this big room full of slides, swings, bouncy balls, and other fun therapy tools that we wouldn't get to use if at home. Noah also tends to want to do his own thing at home. It's his comfort zone. So when we're in their place, he has no choice but to focus on what they want him to do.
- Noah is very much a sensory-seeker. He constantly looks for more input, which leads to a few of his quirks like running back and forth repetitively, visual play, etc.When he can't find that input naturally (from stuff going on around him), he creates it. She gave us exercises to help calm those sensory issues, which I'm really happy about.
- I've written a few times how I've used Sign Language with Noah since he was tiny. Brad and I are both fluent, so we used it as a way to teach Noah communication. He's known several signs for a long time. The weird part? He's acting like he doesn't know them anymore. She's not sure why this is. We're supposed to start Speech therapy before too long, so I'm hoping they'll have an idea.
- Noah did absolutely amazing. She was actually really surprised at how well he did. She explained that it usually takes a few weeks before she can get any good eye contact, but with Noah? She got it right away.
- Brad said he could tell that what she was doing was working. He was engaged. She had brought him out of his world and into ours. He knew it had worked, because Noah would start to cover his eyes and hide a little. Having that kind of a connection, especially with a stranger, totally overwhelmed him.
- Every autistic kid is different, and according to her, their rate of progress depends a lot on their individual personalities. Because Noah is so laid back and even-tempered, she told Brad she expects him to do really well.

I'm excited for our next appointment on Wednesday. I like to study what the therapists do so that I can apply it at home. I've already started seeing a little progress since last week with him (he's now going up the stairs normally instead of one step at a time). I hate it took us this long to figure out what to do and what he needs, but at least we're on the ball now. :)