OT Update

Kiddo has been in occupational therapy with the greatest OT ever (in my very biased opinion) since March of 2014.  In the 17 months he's been in therapy, we've made lots of progress.  Lots.  I mean, he's walking up and down stairs alternating feet now.  His run is a lot less of a waddle and much faster.  His balance and core strength have improved significantly.  He now attempts to color pictures rather than just scribbling all over paper, he can write the letters of his first name, and can draw circles and squares and a happy face.  His sensory issues have become less and less problematic.  He can kick a ball now, and can throw with a lot more accuracy, and can even catch a thrown ball about every other time.  He's now fully potty trained and can dress himself (except he needs help with shirts).

Kings of the beaver dam!  17 months ago, Kiddo wouldn't have even attempted to climb it. :)

A few weeks ago his OT reevaluated him, and I got the report on Wednesday.  At first, all I see are the percentiles. His locomotion (gross motor skills like walking, running, stairs, jumping, hopping, etc) is at the 5th percentile.  Meaning 95 percent of his peers can perform better than him in this area.  I see it every time we go to a playground or a play place, but seeing it in writing is not fun.  His object manipulation (catching, throwing, kicking, etc) is at 25th, not so terrible.  Nor is his hand eye coordination, his highest at 50th percentile. (Maybe there's a chance he won't be terrible at sports like his mama?)  His grasping (fine motor skills like writing, cutting, etc) is at the 5th percentile.  And his stationary skills (balance, posture, core strength) is at the 2nd percentile.

I'm feeling defeated.

Next, I see the month equivalency.  He is 63 months old, but his stationary skills are like that of a 33 month old.  His locomotion 29.  His object manipulation 46.  His hand eye coordination 52.  His grasping skills 37.   Did I mention he is 63 months old?

Forget defeat.  Now I'm just discouraged.  Can he not be ahead or equivalent with his peers in any of these areas?  How long is it going to take him to catch up?  Should we be doing more therapy?  Should I be focusing on these areas more than I do his speech and language?

But, I have to see the positive in everything or else the defeat and discouragement and the questioning can be paralyzing.  So, when we got home I pulled out his huge binder filled with all his evals and I found the one from his first eval in March of 2014.  I had to see how much progress he has made in 17 months.  And I crunched some numbers  I desperately needed to see the positive, and I found it.  In 17 months of weekly private OT, twice a month OT and PT from school, and me working with him he has made:

Stationary skills: 15 months of progress.  Not bad, Kiddo.  Not bad at all.
Locomotion: 7 months.   Really?
Object manipulation: 19 months.  Yay!
Grasping: a whopping 24 months.  Go Kiddo!!
Hand eye coordination: 14 months.

Ah, much more encouraging.  Though the locomotion is still not as much as I would like, he's made two years worth of progress in 17 months on his fine motor skills.  He's making progress in every area.  While his peers may be making progress too and that's why his percentiles are still really low, he is making steady progress and gaining new skills.

I can't wait to see his next evaluation, because I KNOW those numbers are going to be even higher.  Once he masters jumping and pedaling a bicycle those locomotion numbers are going to go way up.  And we will master them soon, I can feel it.

Plus, these stupid evals don't take into account how dang smart he is.  His teacher has told me multiple times "He is so smart."  Yep, I know it.  He's been reading for a while now and loves science.

So anyway, take that stupid apraxia!!  We are surely and steadily beating you!!

Kiddo can climb any mountain he puts his mind to.  :)