I have been doing ot on my son for a week. ( deep brushing and joint compresstions) When we first did it with the ot he was very grumpy and fussy. I have kept with it every two hours. I haven't really seen a diffrence, he complains when I do it and sometimes he seems moody afterward. Tonight I didn't do the ot. He was in such a good mood smiling and interacting playful. My husband thought it might be working so I tried again. I did the ot about five hours after the last time I did it . He was grumpy again and crying. Has anyone seen a child have a neg. reaction to the ot? Should I stop, my ot is out of town so I can't call her.
wow that is strange..I would keep doing it all the while writing it down in a journal (all the reactions..) and then ask your OT about it. I have just gotten started with that but I am having a hard time doing it every 2 hours. good luckWhen Tyler was little they tried brushing with him and he SCREAMED. He couldn't handle it. I was told kids either love it and melt or hate it. They tried twice with major negative results and STOPPED. Some of these kids can't handle being touched it is painful to them.
What is the purpose for the brushing? calming strategies? Focus and attention? etc. I have included some ideas you might like to read through and think about or try that could help.
In my opinion, as a parent of a child on the spectrum diagnosed 7 years ago with many sensory issues (and other problems), What I would do is.... I would try to call a supervisor and ask for their opinion, HOWEVER YOU know YOUR CHILD best. If you feel he is having a negative effect from the brushing STOP doing it! Thats what I would do.
How to know if its sensory / What to do
Sensory Integration - Must Read
Sensory Defensiveness & Sensory Diet
Sensory Integration & Teaching Strategies
Msteelersfan
Thank you for your help. It is so nice to be able to come to this board and have people to talk to about this. Your info was very helpful to me. Thanks again. Momo
I was told part of it was also to desensitize my ds. Like it was recommended to go to movies at theatre to give him a shock to his system so he could become accustom to drastic changes...
On flip side we are also supposed to do swimming for strength and desensitizing (to water on head, etc) which he loves.
For stuff like brushing teeth... I started with one sweep across mouth.. we are up to counting to five. It takes tons of time but slowly he is getting used to it without a huge fuss. I would work up to things slowly and let your child pick the pace. You don't want to make the situation traumatizing, but you do need to slowly let your son get used to it.
I see it like getting a needle. The first time is horrible (I puked all over the nurse :P) but if you are diabetic you slowly learn that it's not that big of a deal, it just takes time to get accustom to it.