Yesterday was Ted's evaluation and wow! was it interesting. I had taken him in at 2.5 (only worried about his speech, but they do a full screen every time) so I KNOW what it's like when your child is fine. Everyone chats with you casually and at the end you get some papers with extra info if you're REALLY concerned, but sorry, you're DENIED! Which was great! Well. No one was chatting with me this time, until later on. The very first thing was with the social worker, i.e. the emotional part, which was my concern anyway. She did many things with him but the 2 most interesting and telling were the 2 drawings. She asked him to draw a person and he did. He drew one long oval with arms and legs sticking out (no separate head). He drew a large dark circle for the mouth and lots of little dots for eyes. This was him. She noted to me that it was telling that the focus of his self-portrait was his BODY and his MOUTH, his 2 behaviors that are concerning. Hmmm. Then, without prompting, he drew a large circle and kept drawing over it a few times so it was big and dark. "This is a nightmare," he said. Then he drew a baby and then a small pillow (don't suffocate the baby! I thought in horror! but he didn't). Apparently he thinks Mae must have nightmares. After talking with me and getting some extra info, she believes that he takes his role as her big brother very seriously. He may be internalizing what he THINKS she is feeling and letting it affect him (hence his sudden severe separation anxiety from me...if her mom left her, mine might leave me, for example). She suggests some play therapy for him to 'get it out,' whatever it is he has stuffed down and not expressed. So that is our #1 issue right now-get some of this junk out! The other stuff, the physical stuff, is called Sensory Integration Disorder and is a fancy way to label a child who is not ADD but not normal either. So there are lots of different therapies to help 'ground' a child who feels, basically, like he's hyper all the time. One of those is called "Heavy Work" therapy, where they do things that are heavy (like carrying a heavy backpack, something Ted has been doing on his own for a few weeks now...nothing like self-medicating!). Other things that make him FEEL his body working, amidst the feeling of energy running through him all the time, can help. This 2nd thing I understand. I always thought, as a child, that I felt very 'alive' inside, very excited all the time. Perhaps this is just what Ted is feeling, only with a boy it comes out physically. Either way, I understand having that kind of energy and I know that it can be really helpful. So, we will start some play therapy for the emotional stuff and follow the guidelines for the Heavy Work to help him settle. We are also going to try the Wednesday Enrichment at preschool, which is, of all things...yoga! We'll see if he likes it. Whew.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
getting into Ted's head
Yesterday was Ted's evaluation and wow! was it interesting. I had taken him in at 2.5 (only worried about his speech, but they do a full screen every time) so I KNOW what it's like when your child is fine. Everyone chats with you casually and at the end you get some papers with extra info if you're REALLY concerned, but sorry, you're DENIED! Which was great! Well. No one was chatting with me this time, until later on. The very first thing was with the social worker, i.e. the emotional part, which was my concern anyway. She did many things with him but the 2 most interesting and telling were the 2 drawings. She asked him to draw a person and he did. He drew one long oval with arms and legs sticking out (no separate head). He drew a large dark circle for the mouth and lots of little dots for eyes. This was him. She noted to me that it was telling that the focus of his self-portrait was his BODY and his MOUTH, his 2 behaviors that are concerning. Hmmm. Then, without prompting, he drew a large circle and kept drawing over it a few times so it was big and dark. "This is a nightmare," he said. Then he drew a baby and then a small pillow (don't suffocate the baby! I thought in horror! but he didn't). Apparently he thinks Mae must have nightmares. After talking with me and getting some extra info, she believes that he takes his role as her big brother very seriously. He may be internalizing what he THINKS she is feeling and letting it affect him (hence his sudden severe separation anxiety from me...if her mom left her, mine might leave me, for example). She suggests some play therapy for him to 'get it out,' whatever it is he has stuffed down and not expressed. So that is our #1 issue right now-get some of this junk out! The other stuff, the physical stuff, is called Sensory Integration Disorder and is a fancy way to label a child who is not ADD but not normal either. So there are lots of different therapies to help 'ground' a child who feels, basically, like he's hyper all the time. One of those is called "Heavy Work" therapy, where they do things that are heavy (like carrying a heavy backpack, something Ted has been doing on his own for a few weeks now...nothing like self-medicating!). Other things that make him FEEL his body working, amidst the feeling of energy running through him all the time, can help. This 2nd thing I understand. I always thought, as a child, that I felt very 'alive' inside, very excited all the time. Perhaps this is just what Ted is feeling, only with a boy it comes out physically. Either way, I understand having that kind of energy and I know that it can be really helpful. So, we will start some play therapy for the emotional stuff and follow the guidelines for the Heavy Work to help him settle. We are also going to try the Wednesday Enrichment at preschool, which is, of all things...yoga! We'll see if he likes it. Whew.
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2 comments:
This is really interesting. .. When you were Ted's age, I always felt that you had so much more energy than I did. I still do! .. Can you do anything with music? .. Mom
A friend said today, everything is a gift. It can be a real pain, but it can be wonderful. This energy I've always had has helped me in immeasurable ways. I am by nature a lazy person, but this drive inside me compensates, so I get things done in spite of myself! There are many 'things to do' for this type of child. Swimming is one, so I am going to talk to his swim teacher tomorrow about swimming twice a week. Yoga may help center him. Water play or playing with play-doh is very calming. We'll do some of everything and hopefully help him direct some of that energy. We are more alike that I thought.
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