Occupational Therapy Evaluation

The OT evaluation was today. We arrived about 15 minutes early so we could make sure they had copies of our insurance card and everything was good to go. That's when we find out that the OT we were supposed to see went home sick about 2 hours earlier and they were supposed to cancel our appointment. I was so disappointed, I didn't want to have to reschedule and wait. Thankfully another OT was able to see us, but our wait was another half hour. The big kids had brought books to read, and I had my phone that Brooklyn could play on (Bella had spent the night with Papa the night before). We opted to wait.

So the OT, Matt, called us back and we went into a room. He got out a couple toys for Brooklyn and we started the interview part of the evaluation. We went through Brooklyn's history of behavior modification therapy, medications, diagnosis of ADHD, ODD, and Mood Disorder-NOS. I explained how I didn't think ODD fit, as Brooklyn is not outright defiant, and that I didn't know anything about Mood Disorder-NOS. He was super great. He tried to engage Brooklyn in conversation a few times, but she was having none of that.

Matt had given her a peg board with rubber bands to play with, it also had a stack of papers with patterns on them that you could make on the peg board with the rubber bands. Brooklyn was able to re-create each one, Matt was very impressed with her intelligence. At one point he asked if it was possible for Brooklyn to skip Kindergarten and go straight into 1st grade this year (he's actually the third professional to ask that). After he finished his paperwork he gave me a sensory questionnaire to fill out and he took us back to the "swing room". Brooklyn was SO excited to go to the swing room.

Brooklyn got to bounce and swing on the "frog swing" and them play on the "moon swing". She liked the frog swing better and went back to that one. Matt noticed that Brooklyn doesn't seem to show signs of getting dizzy or having any type of nausea develop after all the swinging. That was the end of our hour and he said that he thinks it would be best if he saw Brooklyn 1-2 times a month. He doesn't think an IEP is necessary as Brooklyn doesn't have special education needs. He said if the teacher and school are willing to listen to and accept his suggestions in the classroom for Brooklyn that she should be fine. If they don't, then we may need to push the IEP issue, but he doesn't want her to be labeled with an IEP if it's not necessary.

He still has to score her sensory questionnaire and then put everything together in a report for the insurance company (to approve the ongoing therapy) and for me so that I can have a copy of it. I plan to give a copy of it to her school as well. We talked a bit about Brooklyn skipping Kindergarten and he agrees that if they're just going to give Brooklyn 1st grade work in the Kindergarten classroom that they should just allow her to go up to 1st grade. So, that will definitely be a conversations we'll be having with the school.

All in all it was a good evaluation, and I think he's a good fit for Brooklyn. I'm exhausted after a very long day. I'm sure tomorrow I'll remember details that I have forgotten to add.

But, for now, we're just waiting. Next Monday we'll meet Brooklyn's new behavior modification therapist. On the 23rd we go on our mini stay-cation. It should be fun!

Appointments, appointments, appointments.

I have spent ALL week scheduling appointments! I think I need some type of organizer/calendar/something to help keep everything straight.

So, onto the exciting news, Brooklyn's OT appointment has been scheduled! YAY!! Apparently the paperwork was mailed to the wrong apartment number, so I went down and picked it up yesterday. When I returned it, they had JUST had a cancellation, so Brooklyn's OT evaluation is scheduled for Tuesday August 14th, at 1pm. I'm a little anxious and full of what ifs. What if they say she DOES have sensory processing disorder? What if they say she DOES have Autism? What if they say she's fine and *I'm* crazy? So, for now we wait and see.

Alayna's appointment schedule is getting full too. She has a therapy/counseling intake appointment the first week of September, she has a doctor's appointment the first week of September, and ALL the kiddos go to the dentist on the 20th of September. Once we have the referrals from the doctor we can start making MORE appointments. Hopefully we'll be able to schedule all the evaluations (OT, PT, speech) for the same day/time. We have a nice list of specialists she needs (cardiologist, geneticist, ophthalmologist, etc), plus I'd like to have her hips checked out. She swings her hips around when she walks. Rather than her legs moving front and back they swing around to the side. She also needs a thyroid panel done, as the last time it was checked in November 2010 it was elevated, and hasn't been rechecked since.

That's not counting Brooklyn's weekly behavior modification therapy and the IEP evaluations we're requesting for both girls. So, needless to say the next 6-8 weeks are going to be SUPER busy.