Lu went for an Occupational Therapy evaluation Monday. This was at the suggestion of our new ped for the drooling/chewing concerns. The therapist said he's functioning right at his age level in pretty much every area, but she thinks he has poor muscle tone in his mouth, which they can work on. Once they get all the insurance squared away, they'll be able to have the speech therapist in the office evaluate him (while he's quite verbal and has a great vocabulary, I think Marek pronounced words much better at the same age) and work with the occupational therapist on an action plan for his mouth.

And then something really exciting: Lukas has a TERRIBLE temper, which I thought just came with being two. When he's mad or not getting what he wants, he can throw a pretty good tantrum, complete with head-banging, and he just doesn't seem to listen or express himself with words. The therapist said that this is something they can work on in therapy too. I figured he'd just grow out of it, but she said that they have a lot of tools to help kids behave more appropriately when they're mad and can help me use them with him at home.

I had no idea OT dealt with behavioral issues as well as functional issues!

Sounds like a great appointment! So glad you found this new ped and what sounds a wonderful OT therapist.

Maybe once you get some of these methods.....you can share with those of us who have drama queens?? LOL

Awesome to hear about the progress!

Hey, can you share the tools they use to calm tempers? Thanks!
 

Mike, we haven't started yet, but I will certainly do so when we get into it. What the therapist told me was they use visual and audible cues to prepare the kids for transitions - "In 2 minutes we're going to clean up and do this instead," and they set a timer or show a picture of what the clock will look like, since kids this age don't have the listening comprehension skills of an older kid. They also practice transitions ad nauseum throughout the hour-long appointment until the child starts to get it. This kind of intensive reinforcement is something parents can't do at home, but the parent can use the tools at home to reinforce the work that's being done in therapy.

Yay!