SPD/SID Eval - anything i should know ahead of time?

[TraceyS/FL]

It's been awhile since i read up on this, the OT said there is no worry of her "failing" (or is that "passing"?) given the forms she had us fill out. Oh gee, it's in the car - multiple pages and rate on a "always, frequently, occasionally, seldom, never" type of thing....

But is there anything i should know going in? Types of questions to ask?

Any general advice?

It's going to be a few weeks that we went from, "something is wrong", to now having a bunch of initials for things after name. I've already gone thru the "mourning" period over her with her genetic disorder diagnosis 3 years ago (almost exactly) - nothing like finding out when a child is just almost 7yo that she won't probably ever be able to have her own biological child, and if she gets "lucky", would go thru menopause before you. I've known there were other learning related issues for awhile, but we were still adjusting to that, the oldest was diagnosed with Scoliosis at the same time, then we didn't have insurance for the kids.... it's just been a long process getting here.

I guess i'm still ahead of my STBXH, i have a feeling he didn't have a clue how deep the issues are.... he's been thinking (since January i gather, first i'd heard of it) that just putting her in PS would fix it all. Which isn't going to be the case....

But i'm ready to climb the hill and get her all the therapy she needs and now has access to.

But this one, i could use some words of wisdom on......

Thanks.

[Dobela]

Just be honest on this. Put what you are seeing. These just give a bigger picture of your dd to the therapist, as much as a scale can. Ther is no right or wrong, or pass or fail-just a further description of your child. If you think of anything, write it down in the notes sections. Sometimes I didn't quite understand a question, or wanted to clarify my answers and so I made lots of notes for the OT. Those must have been very helpful because several ended up in the final report.

[TraceyS/FL]

Oh i've already filled them out - probably didn't put as many notes as i should have though... did some. Some really had me thinking - i was wishing there was a better break than the 100/75/50/25/0 though,

But she got them, graded them and we "qualified" for the eval (did we pass? or fail? LOL!). That is scheduled for Monday afternoon - she had a cancellation. I just don't know what to expect for that portion. She said it's about 90 minutes. Is it going to be something DD will be in overload afterwards? Anything particular i can prep her with?

She did amazingly well during the long Auditory Processing test in the booth last friday - i expected issues after that. Didn't get it, except this week has been tough getting back in the school routine. She doesn't handle the break in routine well - and it was 2 weeks of mucked up schedule.

ANYWAY, i guess i just feel unprepared for this one because of the variety of areas that it can go...

Thanks for letting me ramble! LOL!

[Laurie4b]

It's been awhile since i read up on this, the OT said there is no worry of her "failing" (or is that "passing"?) given the forms she had us fill out. Oh gee, it's in the car - multiple pages and rate on a "always, frequently, occasionally, seldom, never" type of thing....

But is there anything i should know going in? Types of questions to ask?

Any general advice?

It's going to be a few weeks that we went from, "something is wrong", to now having a bunch of initials for things after name. I've already gone thru the "mourning" period over her with her genetic disorder diagnosis 3 years ago (almost exactly) - nothing like finding out when a child is just almost 7yo that she won't probably ever be able to have her own biological child, and if she gets "lucky", would go thru menopause before you. I've known there were other learning related issues for awhile, but we were still adjusting to that, the oldest was diagnosed with Scoliosis at the same time, then we didn't have insurance for the kids.... it's just been a long process getting here.

I guess i'm still ahead of my STBXH, i have a feeling he didn't have a clue how deep the issues are.... he's been thinking (since January i gather, first i'd heard of it) that just putting her in PS would fix it all. Which isn't going to be the case....

But i'm ready to climb the hill and get her all the therapy she needs and now has access to.

But this one, i could use some words of wisdom on......

Thanks.

No advice. No need to prepare. She will base much of her diagnosis on her observation of how your dd does with the various activities she gives her. I had NO CLUE about some of ds's issues that the OT saw right away. So give her a list of anything that you "wonder about" in terms of dd and relax and let her do her thing.

What is a STBXH?

[TraceyS/FL]

No advice. No need to prepare. She will base much of her diagnosis on her observation of how your dd does with the various activities she gives her. I had NO CLUE about some of ds's issues that the OT saw right away. So give her a list of anything that you "wonder about" in terms of dd and relax and let her do her thing.

Thanks... i wonder if i can quit worrying/dwelling on it??? Probably not! :tongue_smilie:

I wish i could figure out if i bought The OUt of Sync child, or checked it out at the library. I really thought i'd bought it.... but can't find it either. So maybe i borrowed it?

What is a STBXH?
Soon to be ex-husband. I had to explain it to his lawyer too when he had snippets of my posts here at the deposition.....

[Dobela]

You can't prepare her for the appointment. What the OT will do though is take what you have provided and use that to know kinds of stimuli to present to your dd. She will present some of the ones you say negatively effect her in order to see which techniques she has may help calm/center your dd and what specifics may be more than she is ready to handle. Your dd will likely be very over done sensory wise when she is finished so you should plan nothing for the time after the eval except maybe a quiet afternoon at home. But, you dd may be so stressed that it won't be a quiet afternoon at home IYKWIM. When my son last went thru an eval that pushed him to the edge, he was agressive, beligerent, rude, noncompliant and such for the rest of the day. I had not seen him that agitated in a long time and he was more than a handful to manage. So be prepared for the worst behavior she can muster after she is finished. Then, document it so you can go back and share what you know happened with the OT.

[TraceyS/FL]

We now you really have me regretting not putting more notes on there.

But, that prepares ME for the worst, which is good. I can't change the stuff afterwards - the youngest has gymnastics, but she doesn't have to do anything..... at least i know it could be ugly.

Thanks.....

[Momto2Ns]

OT evals we've had have always been more fun than taxing (except for the OT :lol: ) They will try a variety of sensory issues, gross and fine motor test and lots of other thing too. OT offices are like giant playgrounds though and kids have a great time there. The only way that OT evals or appoints usually effected him was to wear him out! He loved OT most of the time though. There were times he was working on issues that were difficult that weren't as fun. In an eval if they find a weakness, they will document it and move on.

You don't need to prepare and I would expect to watch the OT run around and play with swings, toys, and therapy equipment you never knew existed! Enjoy it! If the OT is good, they will go from what you have told them and continue to explore. Don't worry about not having said enough. It will all be good. This is NOT something you have to worry about. Figuring out a plan and what to do next - now there is when stress can begin. The eval. will be fine though.

[Dobela]

I will say our OT evals were like that - except the one specifically set up to eval ds senory issues. After that he loved OT and gained so much from it. If the goal of the eval is sensory issues, they will have to push the child much further than they would in a regular session and expose the child to more stress than they would in a normal session.

[TraceyS/FL]

Fun would be good too!

But yes, it is big on sensory issues, so i could totally see how she could be pushed to the brink. Then part of me wonders - will the OT be able to push her far enough? I think it's just the whole "unknown" aspect getting to me.

And yes, the figuring it out afterward part - trying to do that on the ST thing... i wish the Audiologists report had shown up last night. I need the list he said he'd put in there... then to figure out where to drive to for Speech.

Taxi service is me... :D

[Dobela]

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Taxi service is me... :D I know the feeling LOL

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[TraceyS/FL]

We survived.

She didn't push her to the limit - confirmed a bunch of stuff, but didn't feel the need to push to the extreme.

I liked her, DD responded well to her, and we had some interesting observations - that i need to flesh out if they echo the audio processing findings too.

She would have scheduled her for therapy - but her insurance requires they get the eval back before they approved that. UGH. Same for ST - even though the Audiologist report says, ST.

SOOOO, back to dinner and i'll probably have questions later.... i can't think anymore right now!

[Dobela]

I am glad it went well for you. you are in the crazy phase right now. I pronise, it will all settle down soon.

[TraceyS/FL]

It is crazy, and normally i wouldn't be doing so much so fast - but well, gotta love divorce 'eh?

I'm waiting on the paperwork from the Dev Ped, we have to fill that out and send it back before they will schedule an appointment. I'm hoping it arrives today - not "early next week" like they said on the phone yesterday. Really, if they mailed it on friday 65 miles away it shouldn't take over a week.... right?

I can't make another decision until i know when that will be scheduled.

[Dobela]

Take a week for mail? LOL I just recently found out that our local mail first goes to a town 75 miles away for sorting before it is sent back - a trip that can take up to 4 days. :tongue_smilie:

[TraceyS/FL]

That is what i'm afraid of.... i don't have TIME for that stuff! LOL!!