After receiving the report from the OT, clearly her fine motor and gross motor skills are still a problem, but the school won't be able provide intervention in that area. This is the report we received:
Occupational Therapy ScreeningMeanwhile her grades are not getting any better, it doesn't seem like the medication is helping and she shows increased signs of anxiety at home and at school. We go back to her pediatrician this Wednesday, so we'll see what he has to say about all this and go from there I suppose.
2-10-09
[Daughter] was seen for an Occupational Therapy screening on 2-10-09 by [school district's OT], MS, OT/L. In the area of self help skills, she was able to manage buttons and snaps, but had difficulty engaging a zipper and was unable to tie. [She] is able to manage bathroom and lunchroom needs independently. [She] demonstrated weak proximal muscle strength while attempting the prone extension (superman) position. She was only able to hold this position for 10 seconds after practice, where the norm is >30 seconds.
She was unable to balance in the Rhomberg position (one foot in front of the other) with her eyes closed. She was able to cross midline during Brain Gym activities and reports she has no tactile aversions.
In the area of fine/visual motor, [she] demonstrates a thumb wrap grasp using her right hand during writing tasks. She is able to copy from the board using adequate sizing and spacing. Finger individuation and serial opposition are within normal limits. She had difficulty visual tracking in diagonal planes.
Recommendations:
-Hand strengthening exercises with theraputty
-proximal strengthening using superman position to improve posture and
attention
-allow [her] to chew gum during class if needed to help with attention
-try a disc seat at desk to allow for movement without disruption
-balloon volleyball, or any other eye hand coordination exercises to
improve visual tracking
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I am in the process of having my ADHD son evaluated in the school for OT. The private evaluation showed need but can't afford private OT (over $1,000/month). If I read your entry correctly, this is the report from the school OT and they are recommending therapy so I am wondering why they won't provide it for your daughter.
ReplyDeleteHang in there! As much as all the treatment seems fruitless in the beginning (meds, etc), it does get better! You just have to treat it as trial and error, an experiment of sorts, and you will find the right combo of meds, OT, school services, behavior modification, etc that works for your daughter.
Thanks for your feedback, Penny. The school evaluated my daughter at my request, but said that because these things are not affecting her academic achievement or performance in the classroom, they cannot provide services through the school. Our insurance is good and we could handle co-pays for OT, but not sure it's to her benefit to have her miss school. I'll report back what the pediatrician says!
ReplyDeleteHow can they say her academic performance or achievement is not being affected? She's failing math, right? Or at least doing very poorly. She's obviously very intelligent because she does so well in other subjects. So it's the ADD that is affecting her in the other subjects.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at http://www.wrightslaw.com/ . The school may be telling you that they can't help, but that may not the be the truth. Know your rights.