Slightly off topic, but I was wondering since you said your 2 year old has sensory issues, is he in OT as well? I'm sure you know since you already have one in OT , but the younger they start, the better the results because habits are less ingrained into them. And if they went at the same time it would be a nice break for you rather than worrying about keeping him entertained. Just a thought.
My 2 year old is in OT for sensory and feeding issues and has made huge improvements. Her therapist keeps saying that it is good we got her in so young because if they don't start until school age, when issues are usually identified, they're already too old for therapy to be extremely effective.
yes, the younger one gets OT as well but at home through Early Intervention so we don't have to go out for that. Once he's out out of EI when he turns 3 we could possibly look for outside therapy for him as well in the same place, which would solve the problem. ... another problem is when my younger one is getting his OT, ST and DT at home ... keeping DS4 away from DS2 and the therapist is next to impossible. He's been so used to that all appointments used to be for him that he just doesn't want to understand that sometimes his brother needs an alone time with people! lol
That said, I doubt we'll continue with therapies for the younger one. While I'm sure they'll be recommended on a continuous basis for the future, I know I can work on the sensory issues at home (doing that every day anyways) and the reasons he has ST and DT at this point I'm pretty sure is more of a misdiagnosis because he's developing very asynchronously. Just 4 months ago we were quite concerned with Asperger's / Autism spectrum but now it's becoming more and more obvious he's far from that.
I do agree that starting any therapy as early as possible is crucial ... but I also think it's all in the hands of the parents. If the parent recognizes the problem and has all the tools needed to work on it, than OT might become just another appointment that we have to make and overextends our schedule ... not sure if that makes sense?
Basically after spending almost 4 years in therapy, I don't really see DS4 (and even DS2 lately) making that much progress due to therapy but rather due to outgrowing a lot of the issues with age (while developing new ones) but fortunately for us, pretty much all problems DS4 has are identical to what I went through as a child so I can identify with him knowing ways of getting over those bumps that come and go.
It's also really important to have therapists who realize your child not only has whatever diagnosis but if they are gifted, they work differently from most kids and may need a different approach.
I'm just rambling here ... but maybe some other parents here who's children went through various therapies can identify with me? ... looking back at my childhood ... I don't wish I received any kind of therapy ... what I do regret is that nobody knew what SPD was back then and that I was looked at as the weird / lazy / kid with too many excuses by my family and everyone else and they had no idea what was going on in my mind. When I tried to explain, they wouldn't understand. So I'm just glad I can spare my kids having to go through any of that!
