My youngest son has some of the milder issues that are still a concern, handwriting for example. Also at age 9 he still sometimes reverses numbers too (with no reading disability evident). His third grade journal entries were a real problem, and I know part of it is he just needs to try harder, but part of it is that the task is genuinely difficult for him. I do worry about how he will do taking notes in middle and high school.
At the same time he has qualified for gifted programs in JHU CTY (both verbal and math) and won high honors there with his test scores. The problem we have had is in NYC we have been unable to find any OT who does NOT make the sensory approach central to their treatment. My oldest had years wasted with those treatments that did nothing at all for him, and then did very well when we moved out of NY to California and we were able to access totally different services. When we returned to NY (about 12 years ago) there was even a parent movement in NY trying to bring scientifically validated treatment to the birth to 3 programs, and I was asked to help with that (testifying about our family's experience). I am not interested in fighting with anyone about SPD but I am really, really frustrated that this approach which based on my reading and discussions with others HAS been studied already and IS shown not to be of much use is the centerpiece of all the OT programs I can find here in NYC.
As a result my now 9 yo (my youngest child) has had no OT services at all. I would like to find a NYC OT who will work with my youngest son without subjecting him to the sensory programs (which at this point my dh and I will not support), and without having to listen to them use all the ten-dollar words included with all the explanations of sensory integration disorder (throwing around words like "proprioceptive"). It seems to me all that language is part of what disguises sensory integration as "scientific" when it seems to be anything but. I have had enough of their elaborate theory. I wish they would face up to the reality that their theory (which has existed for decades now) has not held up when subjected to properly structured studies.
I am ALL for giving help to kids with the milder end problems -- but please, let it be real help. The problem with giving a bogus therapy to a more mildly affected kid (or one who is basically developmentally normal) is that kid is likely to improve (with or without help) and then the proponents of the bogus therapy can claim credit for the improvement. I find NYC has far too many such treatments in general, and the popular forms of OT are just one example. Psychoanalysis was so popular here that I believe that delayed the acceptance of behavior therapies which my oldest son needed, and are beneficial for many mental disorders.
I find it so frustrating that studies showing treatments are ineffective seem to be ignored when enough people have the agenda to continue providing the service. Instead of trusting the professionals, we then need to have the "buyer beware" mentality as consumers of the services. Sadly that does seem to be the reality in OT, psychiatry, and even with some surgeries, where patients can fail to be helped or can even be harmed if they do not do their own research and select treatments very, very carefully.
By the way, if anyone knows of any OTs in NYC who do not endorse the SPD and "sensory" theories, please, please post to the board or send me a private message. Thank you!
