OT evaluation

Brook from the Regional Center told me they recently got some money for PT and OT evaluations so I brought Wyatt in for an evaluation. The OT asked me about my concerns, which were using utensils and dressing/undressing himself. She said the best approach is to provide core strengthening and those other things would follow. She thinks his picky eating is actually a symptom of his low tone, he doesn't have the oral motor strength to process difficult to eat foods. So she gave us a list of exercises for the lower extremities, upper extremities and oral motor.

We should let him carry or push heavy things. (Seth!)
Let him walk up slides. Use monkey bars. (Frankly, I don't think I know what monkey bars are.)
Do "wheelbarrows" with him.
Set up a bar, like with a broom, he has to step over to force him on to one foot.
"Deep massage" his arms and legs.
Massage his face around his mouth.
Introduce a new food every other day over two weeks.
Give him long foods that are hard like toast, bread stick, carrot to engage him chewing with his molars.
Something called "straw therapy" that involves using more and more complex, more difficult straws and then more challenging liquids. She is supposed to send me a link.
Give him heavy utensils and place his bowl/plate on a non-skid surface.
Use a motorized tooth brush, if only around his mouth.
Put food around his mouth and have him lick it off.

That's a lot to do. I don't think she expects all these things to be done and I think any one of them shouldn't be more than maybe five minutes. I know there were problems. He was clearly uncomfortable with some of the activities and came slowly wandering over to me with his head down. Some things he went back to later and did though - like blowing a cotton ball off of his hand.

On the plus side, they think Wyatt has great concentration and is smart (He doesn't have any cognitive issues.). He knows a lot of colors. He did the puzzles really fast. He is pretty understandable language-wise.

Wyatt seemed to really love the deep pressure massage. And Wyatt loved the therapists set of dinosaur/hippo bowling pins and ball so much, she gave him the set. He was so happy to go home with them in their plastic carrying bag and show them to daddy. Unfortunately, he didn't want Seth any where near them. We played a game of catch with the ball (they are soft, stuffed vinyl) and poor Seth wanted to join in so bad! I tried to interest Seth in another ball, but he wouldn't go for it. Every time the ball accidentally rolled to Seth Wyatt would go nuts. Eventually, I just had Wyatt throw the ball to me, gave it to Seth and let Seth roll it, then I picked it up and threw it to Wyatt. Wyatt just had to deal.

Wyatt took his "hippos" to bed with him tonight. He was really, really happy.

She also mentioned that there seems to have been an increase of hypotonia in the bay area that is unexplained. The MIND institute at UCD is supposedly doing a study. I think I will see if I can find anything.