OT Eval and Big Words

Yesterday we had an OT Evaluation at Governor Morehead Preschool. We met with Dee, Lily's visual therapist, and Sue, the OT. You might remember Sue from feeding therapy posts a year ago. She was the one that referred us to the UNC feeding team.

We learned a lot of stuff yesterday and my mind is still wrapping around some of the "bigger" issues we need to address with some at home work and more OT. Bear with  me since I'm still digesting, researching and learning some of this.

First off, most of Lily's OT issues are small things to work on. As Sue said we're just "polishing the rough edges of a diamond." I liked hearing that. So here is the list of some things we're going to work on:
1. Dressing and undressing: Lily knows how to take her socks off. That's about it. She can work for awhile to get her shoes off but she's not that great with it. She sure knows how to put our shoes on! But she has never showed any interest in taking her clothes off or helping me put them on with the exception of holding her arms up to put shirts on and off.
I never pushed this since I thought I had it good that LB never took her clothes or diaper off on her own during inopportune times. It irked me a little bit because to me, it seemed Sue was surprised Lily didn't do any of this. Then she stated that LB will be potty training soon and will need to know how to take her pants on and off at least so it's something good to work on.
2. Stacking: LB is pretty good at stacking containers of play dough but she still needs to work. We have to break out the nesting cups too since she needs to work on stacking objects of different sizes and figuring out where each size goes which leads us to one of the biggest issues to deal with...
3. Problem Solving: Lily is much more likely to ask for help than to try something on her own. Den and I have definitely noticed this in the past and have tried to help her by saying "you can do that!" and being extra excited if she did. I guess we didn't realize how much she does this - and of course, once a specialist points it out we really started seeing it like all.the.time.
We think it's awesome that LB asks for help but she really needs to be confident enough with herself and her environment to try things on her and really try to figure out things. This is hard because you never want to see your child struggle with anything and as a mom, I want to jump in and help her at the first sign of frustration. And believe me - the girl gets frustrated and FAST.
I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on this later because it's still swirling around in my head.

And here come the big words.
Gravitational Insecurity and Proprioceptive Sensory Processing.
Oi. This is where things might get muddled.

IF LB has gravitational insecurity then it is very, very slight and not at all even close to extreme or a major problem in our lives.
So, this has to do with not wanting to lay down in the bath, being a bit worried when we lay her down to change her diaper, going down the slide, swinging in anything other than an infant swing etc. I've been reading and there are some extreme cases of this that really hinder life. Not the case for LB. The only big thing it effects, where you can really tell what's going on, is when she goes down the slide. She is not a "happy child" when she goes down and always puts our her foot to slow herself down when she does. Supposedly she doesn't like to feel off center and out of control. I think to a certain extent we all have a bit of gravitational insecurity, right?
Anyway, supposedly she puts her foot while going down the slide to control something. It makes sense. And it could be why she is so wobbly while walking and likes to always have a hand when walking, etc.

The proprioceptive sensory processing is the one that we're pretty sure Lily has. It makes sense, while at the same time not making any sense. Sue told me to research this term and the first thing I pulled up said this,
"The proprioceptive sensory system is the least understood sense we have, but, as you can readily see, the most important to our ability to function easily and comfortably in our world."
Of course. Story of Lily's life. (pituitary gland. brain. eyes. things that just happen for no reason.)
Anywho, this has to do with what we termed Lily's "happy dance" or her "excited face" Those of you who know LB know what I'm talking about but for those of you that do not...her happy dance is when she gets (what we thought) as over excited she uses almost all her limbs to "dance" and then does the excited face (hands usually by the mouth, shaking all over, mouth wide open.)
The only way I can describe it is this. Remember when you were little and you tried to do something REALLY fast? For instance coloring? And you just put your whole body into it and open your mouth and really focus all your energy on going faster, faster, faster. Remember?
That's what Lily does.
all the time, not just when she's excited. When she's coloring. When she's done playing. When she gets out of the bath.
We just thought this was a quirky Lily habit. Until we started noticing it more. And I can't help but think of her doing this in elementary school where kids are likely to make fun of her. So I want to try and resolve it now.

Okay, so what does this mean? Basically, Sue was saying this is Lily's way of getting more sensory feedback. This also explains her walking on her tip toes a lot. Walking on your tip toes gives you more sensory than just walking flat foot (yes, I tried this.) And the excited face? Think of when we do yoga or stress relief stuff and you scrunch your shoulders up to your ears and let go. Feel how relaxed you are? Essentially, from what I understand now, that is what Lily is doing.

These are two different issues but they are having the same impact of LB's development. She is not feeling secure in her environment and so she is not secure enough to try things on her own and thus, problem solve on her own - something we all need to learn to do.
So, what do we do? I'm still a bit stumped on that and didn't really feel like Sue was much help in that regard except give me a few ideas. She didn't even schedule a follow up with us after dumping all this on me!?! I put in an email to our EI contact person, Rachel, to ask for her input and see if she has someone familiar with this that could come out and help us.
Sue said to do "heavy work" like crawling, climbing, swinging using her arms (hold her by her hands and letting her swing from side to side - gives pressure on her joints.) She suggested horseback riding therapy (YESSS!!!!!), the little gym and some firm handed "exercises" and games to play to help relax Lily more. But I don't feel like I have much of anything concrete to work with.

And every time I see her do it today, or cry out in frustration when I tell her to try something, I think, a couple of things.

She is no different than she was yesterday. You just see things differently now. You know there is a reason behind the things she does and that's what you've always wanted!
And I think. HELP! We need some help! I don't want her to feel insecure. I don't want her to get frustrated easily. I don't want her to have to do the shaking thing or walk on her tip toes. I want someone to come out and help us and be there for us when we have all the questions.

Okay. Lunch is over due but I felt like I needed to get this all off my chest for the time being.