sensory therapy - evaluation results

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." ~ Stacia Tauscher

We had the completion of the sensory evaluation today and the results are not good, although it is pretty much what I was expecting.

He scored at a level of 2 year old and 4 year old. Wow right?

The testing was based on the BOT-2 testing system and is scored based on the below:

• Fine Motor Precision—7 items (e.g., cutting out a circle, connecting dots) - scored as 4 y/o
  
• Fine Motor Integration—8 items (e.g., copying a star, copying a square) - scored well and on target for his age. He was able to perceive the object and duplicate it...there were issues with the way his lines overlapped or curved due to the motor skill issues
  
• Manual Dexterity—5 items (e.g., transferring pennies, sorting cards, stringing blocks) - scored as a 2 y/o
  
• Bilateral Coordination—7 items (e.g., tapping foot and finger, jumping jacks) - scored as a 2 y/o
  
• Balance—9 items (e.g., walking forward on a line, standing on one leg on a balance beam)
• Running Speed and Agility—5 items (e.g., shuttle run, one-legged side hop) - scored as 5 y/o
  
• Upper-Limb Coordination—7 items (e.g., throwing a ball at a target, catching a tossed ball) - scored as a 4 y/o
  
• Strength—5 items (e.g., standing long jump, sit-ups)

I didn't see all of the results because boy was ready to play in the sensory playroom. So, going through this experience is extremely difficult...no one can quite understand how it feels to have someone basically tell you that right now your child is far behind where they should be...and far behind with things that just seem natural. It's not like a teacher is telling me he has a hard time reading and needs summer school. He can't efficiently use scissors. He can't efficiently write, color, hop, skip, jump, throw a ball, catch a ball...and he's a boy...how can this be possible? So now I will sit here and ponder what I did wrong, even though deep down I know there is nothing that we did wrong..but still!

So the evaluation results were harder to hear than I imagined, but it's a good thing. We are finally getting help, we are finally finding resources, we are finally making progress. We are moving forward and things will be significantly better by the time school starts. This is a positive thing!

The therapist is wonderful! I just love her. Boy was very goofy/silly today and had a hard time keeping it together, which happened last time too. I think he is nervous/anxious so this is his way of dealing with it. Ms. Sue was very patient with him and kept him on track.

Some things we need to work on -- playing with tennis balls!!

Next appointment next Wednesday...can't wait!!