The Windshield or the Bug?

Wheww!  Therapy is getting tougher.  We knew they were going to push her and they continue to do so!  It's okay, pushing is growth....but it's also mentally exhausting.  We had many meltdowns today.

The past few nights have been well with sleep, getting in at least 8-10hours at a time.  Nea was well rested this am when we got to therapy.  She had a little breakfast and we were ready to go.  All good combinations for good therapy sessions.

OT works her hard!  Physical work.  Lots of physical work.  Rolling back and forth for some vestibular work as well as working on her core.  Rocking back and forth on this huge orange cylindar is both relaxing and exhausting.

We are working up to swinging.  Nea doesn't really like it.  In fact, she kinda really hates it.  It's taken her several sessions to even sit in the tire swing (it's a balance thing) and then as soon as "A" starts to swing it slowly side to side, Nea practically does a back flip to get out of it!

Laying back in it while it slowly swings (distracted by "A"'s cool toys)  helps immensely.  But trust me, she didn't stay longer than about a minute!  Why do we care about swinging?

Swinging helps her body organize and regulate her sensory system.  Getting vestibular input is paramount to sensory integration.  Your body's vestibular system gives your brain information about balance, movement, spatial awareness, position, etc.  It helps you maintain your posture, your balance, use your vision correctly and calm yourself.  Essentially it keeps you "even-keeled"  If it's out of whack (as in Nea's case) it makes for a very stressful day.

Some kids crave this sort of movement, while other kiddos are really sensitive to it.  Nea is one of those kids that's sensitive to it.  This is why the OT piece is so important...."A" directs it and controls it and gives her just the right amount without overwhelming her too much.

The bike is always a highlight and Nea gets better every time she's on it.  She's starting to move very fast these days!  We put our request in to get one, so hopefully we'll hear soon.  Not sure how many bike riding days are left before we hit the cold weather, but it will be ready for us in the spring!






I never really thought about OT and Speech working together, but as I watch these two disciplines work together it really does make sense.

"A" pulls Nea around on the scooter (sitting on a beanbag and covered with a heavy ladybug blanket) while Diana (yay!  I can use her name now!) works on words.  It's dual work.  Nea has to stay balanced on the scooter as it rolls and Diana uses it as an opportunity to teach Nea how to communicate her wants.  The practice the signs and words like:

Stop
Go
Wait
Want
....and put them all together....
"I....want....to....go."  Working on words is tough.  Working on sentence structure is even tougher!  We certainly aren't there yet, but the foundation is in place.

And if OT is physically exhausting.....Speech is mentally exhausting.

This is Diana and Nea in the speech work room.  I don't attend sessions anymore, but can observe from a different room behind mirrored glass.  (It's all very CIA like! ).

Nea seemed sorta spacey today, but Diana was happy with her work nonetheless.  She seemed less vocal and more like she was information gathering.  She's also head-tilting in this picture, which I think is her way of bringing in information.  She seems to do it a lot when she's trying to understand something.

Overall it was a busy, rambunctious day in therapy with lots of good work, and lots of homework to do.
We will be working on "Stop" and "Go" at home, which is important as we try to prevent Nea from bolting.  She will wander if left on her own, and she's so lost in her own world, I can't seem to get her back to get her attention.  So having a verbal and visual cue (Diana gave us a stop sign) to help reinforce.  This is one of the safety pieces we are trying to put into place.  Nea is VERY attracted to water, and she would just walk right into any pool, pond, lake or river.  Water is very comforting to her and soothing.  However, it is also the leading cause of death in children with Autism.  She's not aware of any danger and many times not aware of her surroundings.    And it's one of the number one reasons I would like to get her a therapy dog.  I'll talk about water and wandering in another post.

So even though the day started out so positive, and therapy was good (although tiring) her coping skills were just not available to her today.  This means that she sits at DefCon 6 pretty much all the time.  So trying to get out the door looked like this.....

I feel really bad for her when she's in this state because I just hate that she's in some sort of inner turmoil.  Of course I comfort her and hug her.  That worked for about 2 minutes, and then she was on the floor again in this state.  She did this from the therapy door, all the way to the front lobby.  Screaming and crying and flailing the whole time.  And, because she doesn't have good upper body strength (especially her arms) she did quite a few face plants.

Keep this scenario in mind when you see a mom struggling with her 2 year old at the grocery store or the mall.  The initial thought always is, "Uggh...what a bratty kid!"  Maybe that is the case, and maybe it's not.  Please don't judge.

Eventually we made it to the front lobby and I was exasperated.  So I finally gathered my thoughts (I'm surprised I had any at this point) and sat down on the couch.  We had her backpack which has her iPad in it and I pulled it out as a last ditch distraction for her to be able to get herself together.

Successfully pulling herself back together

The plan was to go swimming today after lunch.  But, after all this mornings work and stress and tears..... she just didn't have it in her.

When she finished lunch, she found the beanbag chair, pulled it to the room, grabbed her "kee-kee" and.....

Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug.

Let's hope we have less bug days.  They are tough!