Sensory diet

[KateBall]

At long last my ds has been assessed by an OT as requiring a "sensory diet" and she will be seeing us soon to tell us what things we can do with him at home to help him over movement and sensory issues. He is apparently dyspraxic and hypermobile - neither of which came as a surprise as much like any other parent on here we have a pretty good idea already.

 

I just thought I would also share with you the fact that we have recently been having our garden revamped. The gardener (I am hopeless in the garden and so employed a girl locally who has turned out to be brilliant) suggested a sensory garden. She put in herbs and smelly plants of all kinds, grasses that make a noise (the cats particularly love those) and also plants to touch and feel (lambs ear - really soft). My ds is loving it - often goes up and smells and feels the various plants satisfying his need for sensory stimulation. I would really recommend it.

[jo jones]

hi kateball please may i ask what did they do to assess hypermobility syndrome cos the little one got paed in the morning for this?? any info appreciated thanx in advance jo

[KateBall]

The Occupational Therapist did various test with ds - I was out of the room (sent out because they say he plays up in front of me!) but from her report I know she did things like getting him to use pegs, write, walk a certain way, kneel up and down a certain way, used a giant therapy ball for him to lay on and used other balls for him to catch - all these things (and more I'm sure) were used to assess how he used his body as opposed to someone NT. She also observed his finger to thumb control and presumably looked at all his joints because she concluded they were hyper extensible. It was also concluded that he has lack of proprioceptive awareness (he doesn't know where his body is and can't follow instruction to move it a certain way unless he is shown or touched!) and hip and shoulder instability. Have you had an OT make an assessment on your little one? If not I suggest you get the paed to refer. It was fascinating watching her show me her conclusions by doing little tests on ds.

[jo jones]

yeah we went in april for sensory assessments,,,,they used balls and made him write and that and to cut a playdough sausage,,but they werent lookin for it at the time ? his paed has always said he has low muscle tone and so on,,but they asked me then about hypermobility syndrome which i hadnt heard of??? until i was told its basically double jointed,,or very similar,,i clicked then cos my mam,myself and my eldest boy are all double jointed!!! when i rang the paed and explained this she said for me to ring o/t and explain??? i did and when i asked they said they had only done his sensory profile that time and weren't assessing him for hypermobility but he did seem very flexible to them and also used far too much pressure whilst cutting the sausage,,he couldnt control a scissors,,and used an eraser too hard and ripped the paper,,so dont think he will go back to o/t as paed said she will assess him herself for this ??????????????? just dunno what she is gonna do,,,i know she was concerned cos he cant get up from the floor without using hands and so on thanx anyway,,,,and will let u know tomorrow how it goes????????????

[KateBall]

when i asked they said they had only done his sensory profile that time and weren't assessing him for hypermobility

 

You'd have thought its up to them to check him for whatever is or could cause a problem. Its not for you to tell them what to check for is it? If find this so frustrating after all we are not medically trained are we. Thank god for a mother's instincts. I just know that when the OT did all the tests on my ds what was particulary good was her explanation afterwards. I knew my son had problems with his brain processing and that affected his communication but I didn't fully appreciated how it affected his movements as well coupled with the flexible joints.

 

Good luck this morning let us know how you get on.

[jo jones]

i just come back and definately has hypermobility,,,she assessed him through the beighton scale and he came out with 6 out of 9,,,she is now referring him to orthopaedics to see if he needs physio???she asked me to do the same and confirmed that yes it is probly inherited from my side of family sooo 1 more answer on the long and very winding road,,,,he will also be re-referred back to pad team for re-assessment as i showed her vids of him at home,,he was assessed for asd adhd last year and they said he dont tick boxes??? think i have just changed their minds!!!!!!!!!!!the psych that he was seeing disagreed with everything i said,so i have said i would like blaine to be assessed by someone else,,, so will carry on forward innit i have to,,,the paed that he is under is fab and could see just how hard it is for us in the vids,,,,,,,,thanx again jo xxxxxxxxxxxx

[bikemad]

Ive seen the vids and my ds asked if it was him!!!!! Def push to be reassesed by someone with half a brain cell that works!!!

[Cariad]

Kate can I be cheeky and ask what plants you planted, T is very sensory and is always touching and smelling. I might have a shot at doing something similar to get him out in the garden!

[KateBall]

Kate can I be cheeky and ask what plants you planted, T is very sensory and is always touching and smelling. I might have a shot at doing something similar to get him out in the garden!

 

You can ask but I'm no gardener so I'm not sure

I know I've got stuff like curry plant, tarragon, lavender, sage, mint, apple mint, some sort of lemon plant that smells just like lemon sherberts (that's my fav), bamboo, - 2 other sort of grasses that move in the wind and make a nice rustle, and something called lambs ear that has leaves shaped like - you guessed it lambs ear and they feel really soft when you touch them. Lots of other stuff I don't know the name of but they smell or feel nice and also have very bright colours - not wishy washy. We put a membrane down and then gravel and then she cut holes in it all over the place and big stones to walk on in between the smelly plants so you get a waft of them as you walk by. Sorry I can't be more helpful or specific. I just know its brilliant.