KJP, we haven't had exactly the same issues that you've mentioned but my older dd and ds have both been through multiple rounds of therapies (dd has had sensory OT at 4/5 years old, vision therapy at 8; ds has been through handwriting OT, and has been seeing an SLP for disorder of written expression remediation for the past 2 years). With each of our therapists, our kids were first given an assessment/evaluation, then a set of goals was written up by the therapists and their sessions specifically targeted skills that worked toward those goals; some of the therapists were more detailed and comprehensive in outlining their goals. The therapists each met with us briefly at the end of each therapy session and reviewed what they'd worked on that day, what skills/goals the work targeted, and discusses anything they wanted us to be doing at home (if anything). Our OT work ended for both dd and ds when they had reached their goals. DD was "let go" from her vision therapy when she plateaued and wasn't making progress anymore. DS surpassed his speech goals on schedule (about 9 months after starting) but ds still sees her because he is continuing to make progress and there is a lot more that the SLP can do with him.
I am sure there were friends and family who thought our kids were "just fine', but to be honest we never discussed it with our family or friends, other than times when we were asked to be somewhere at the same time as a therapy session - and sometimes that would lead to questions, but when we got them I just answered the questions very straightforward, factual, this is what it is, and moved on. Sensory OT is a little bit "out there" for some people - I don't think I'd ever heard of it until about 10 years ago - so that might be part of what's up with your family not understand.
One very important piece of the puzzle though (and most likely the most important) is are *you* questioning what the therapist is doing and the benefit of it? If you are, you need to talk to her and ask specifically where your child is in reaching the goals that were first set out when he was evaluated, how much longer do they expect it to take to reach the goals etc.
polarbear
