Tuesday, September 21, 2010

another step on the diag-onal

I now have had an OT assessment and speech therapy assessment. Both were quite brief insurance-purposes evaluations, but for a $20 co-pay, that's pretty darn good.

The OT came first. They confirmed that, as suspected, I have some sensory processing issues, mainly sensitivities, and that while auditory processing is a biggie, so is tactile defensiveness. We'd work on both of those if I did therapy. I haven't gotten the written evaluation. But, I did leave with a surgical brush to start the Willbarger protocol. It has to be done every two hours for two weeks, which is pretty demanding, but I am committed to it. I have set an alarm on my phone to go off that reminds me, but I sometimes turn off the alarm and space out for a while. I missed at least one session yesterday, and kind of one today, but I'm getting there... it's a tough thing to manage when one has executive functioning difficulties.

The speech evaluation was interesting. I have definite challenges with working memory and what is called 'social pragmatic' speech. That is, using speech in everyday conversation, perspective-taking, and understanding the meaning of non-verbal cues, tone of voice, etc. She'd also work on executive functioning with me.

Overall, the evaluations were helpful for clarifying some things.

2 comments:

Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg said...

I'm so glad that the evaluations gave you so much helpful information. Both my OT and audiology evaluations gave me information that has helped me navigate and adapt to the larger world in a healthier way than I could have otherwise. It's very helpful to know that the challenges are physical and have nothing to do with willpower. What a relief. Knowledge is power!

Karen said...

Thanks Rachel. It's *completely* a relief to know it doesn't have to do with willpower. I relate to what you've written about that. I always think I have to try harder and muscle through, and I have a very hard time recognizing I'm exhausted. But I'm learning.

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