Easily agitated to much calmer — plus, big improvements in gross motor skills
Rhythmic movements and the 5-Step Balance from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course make a huge difference for this 7-year-old boy!
Submitted by S.P., Occupational Therapist
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Easily upset and agitated | Slower to become upset over trivial things |
| Tactile and auditory hypersensitivities | More tolerant of situations he would have previously considered too noisy or uncomfortable |
| Difficulty with hand-eye coordination | Now able to catch and throw |
| Poor bilateral coordination | Now able to throw |
"Joey" is a child that I have been working with for a few months. He is 7 years old and has many of the developmental issues that I commonly see as an OT in an outpatient clinic. The biggest concerns that his mother brought up when I first began with him were related to his emotional regulation. He is a very anxious child, becomes upset and agitated easily, he's very rigid in his thinking, and has tactile and auditory hypersensitivities. Additionally he has a lot of difficulty with hand-eye coordination, many letter and number reversals, and most things requiring bilateral coordination.
I have noticed tremendous change him [after doing rhythmic movements and reflex integration movements [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course]. His mom reports that he is in a better mood much of the time, that he is kinder and not so quick to become upset over trivial things. She said that he used to cry every time they went to the beach because he would be overwhelmed by the noise and irritated by the sand. The other week she said that they'd gone there over the weekend and she could barely get him to leave because he loved it! I have also noticed a significant decline in letter/number reversals when he's writing.
Another huge change I saw in him last week was his catching/throwing abilities. He is still far behind his peers but when I first began seeing him, he had absolutely no trunk rotation. Even with a ton of assistance, he just could not coordinate stepping forward with his opposing foot to throw a ball overhand. The other day we were practicing this skill and I couldn't believe how much easier it was for him. He still needed some cueing but he was able to actually do the movement on his own. His mom has commented that he just seems more confident in his body overall. She sees him participating more with other kids at the park and he doesn't give up so quickly in gym class.
Recently, Joey and his family moved to a new home, which his mom was very worried about. Joey and I talked a bit about it and although he acknowledged that he was moving to a new home, it didn't seem like he'd actually spent much time processing it. I thought this would be a good time for us to do a 5-step balance activity [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course]. It was very interesting to see his response to this process because I could see him tense up initially when we talked about creating a goal around this upcoming experience. He stated that he wanted to "not be scared" of the new house because he didn't know where things were going to go. We talked about the process of moving a bit and decided on the statement "I can be comfortable in my new house." We acted out the process of going through the doors and seeing it empty at first. Then we acted out moving boxes around as it became more crowded with their belongings. He pictured how he wanted to set up his room and put things into his drawers and on his shelves. He seemed so much more relaxed afterwards and talked about how excited he was to go to the new house now. I spoke with his mom after the move and she said he was so happy on moving day and was bouncing all around the new house. It has been very exciting to see all the changes and I'm looking forward to the progress I know he'll continue to make!”
[Edited for length and clarity, emphasis added]