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Has anyone seen an OT for Sensory issues?

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Tuttle
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30 Jun 2014, 11:17 am

ImeldaJace wrote:
motherof2 wrote:

I happen to be an OT, and my kids have had OT in school. I have not had a lot of luck with the tactile sensation defensiveness with my daughter. We did joint compression and 'brushing' but she will only wear short sleeve shirts, leggings, and hates bras. We still have the brush and do it from time to time.


I have a question about brushing. I was wondering if you might have come across anything similar to my experience with it. Brushing was one of the things that we tried to do when I was in OT but it felt horrible and was truly agonizingly painful for me. I would do it and my by body would outwardly relax, but I felt like I needed to tense every muscle in my body, but I couldn't. It was like my body was on fire. I really wanted the brushing to help and I know it is usually a little uncomfortable at first, but it was so bad for me that I would have awful panic attacks and my doctor finally told me to stop doing the brushing. Have you heard of this happening before?


Brushing doesn't work for everyone, but it does for most people. There's a good chance you didn't press down hard enough if you were having a response like that. (It also might not have been good for you in general, but that description also sounds like you didn't press down hard enough).

I needed to press down harder than normally done with my OT. This was determined early; I pressed harder, and it worked. It also meant I needed to spend 2 weeks longer on the protocol than the protocol normally lasts.

---

I've seen an OT and a PT for sensory issues. Actually two different OTs, but same idea. I'm planning on going to another one when it becomes doable again. OT was probably the best thing that could be done for my when it came to work on my symptoms.


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ImeldaJace
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30 Jun 2014, 11:19 am

NicholasName wrote:
ImeldaJace wrote:
What exactly do you do to help with these? How does the schedule and electric toothbrush work?


As for he electric toothbrush, I just brush my teeth with it instead of a regular toothbrush. The sensory input from the vibration can help sensitivities in the mouth.

Thanks! I have a really hard time with food textures. I think I'll give and electric toothbrush a try.

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I don't know what you mean by schedule.

I was must referring to the schedule that motherof2 mentioned when she was talking about helping her daughter with not being able to feel when she needed to go to the bathroom.


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ImeldaJace
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30 Jun 2014, 11:36 am

Tuttle wrote:
ImeldaJace wrote:
motherof2 wrote:

I happen to be an OT, and my kids have had OT in school. I have not had a lot of luck with the tactile sensation defensiveness with my daughter. We did joint compression and 'brushing' but she will only wear short sleeve shirts, leggings, and hates bras. We still have the brush and do it from time to time.


I have a question about brushing. I was wondering if you might have come across anything similar to my experience with it. Brushing was one of the things that we tried to do when I was in OT but it felt horrible and was truly agonizingly painful for me. I would do it and my by body would outwardly relax, but I felt like I needed to tense every muscle in my body, but I couldn't. It was like my body was on fire. I really wanted the brushing to help and I know it is usually a little uncomfortable at first, but it was so bad for me that I would have awful panic attacks and my doctor finally told me to stop doing the brushing. Have you heard of this happening before?


Brushing doesn't work for everyone, but it does for most people. There's a good chance you didn't press down hard enough if you were having a response like that. (It also might not have been good for you in general, but that description also sounds like you didn't press down hard enough).

I needed to press down harder than normally done with my OT. This was determined early; I pressed harder, and it worked. It also meant I needed to spend 2 weeks longer on the protocol than the protocol normally lasts.


I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the problem, as my OT was used to working with toddlers and young children.


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motherof2
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30 Jun 2014, 12:46 pm

ImeldaJace wrote:
motherof2 wrote:
NicholasName wrote:
I'm currently doing occupational therapy for every single sense being overloaded to the max (and a few also being underresponsive), as well as for motor skills/motor planning and hypotonia.

I've been doing it for about a month, and it's already working. I mostly do various things with a therapy ball and resistance band. I also use an electric toothbrush, which I don't like because it vibrates my whole head, but it's helped a bit with my food texture sensitivity.

I can feel thirst better, and I don't overreact to certain kinds of pain as much.


Interesting. My daughter never felt thirsty either for years. Now she does. She also never felt the need to urinate. I taught her to go to the bathroom at certain times.

I have those same exact problems. My mom nicked named me a camel :D

What exactly do you do to help with these? How does the schedule and electric toothbrush work?

(Sorry for so many questions.)


Scheduling drinking and bathroom breaks into her schedule seemed to help by interrupting her from whatever she was doing and focusing on her thirst or full bladder. An electric toothbrush can help with tactile defensiveness and make the mouth less sensative. I still have a gag reflex that keeps me from dealing with certain textures. Nothing has helped this. Personally I don't worry about it because I am able to take in a well balanced meal. It is a bigger issue for children who only eat a few foods. I think my parents made it worse by forcing me to eat. I never did that with my daughter and just encouraged her to try new foods. I never make her eat her dinner but she cannot have dessert without eating the meal.


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