Day 1 of Therapy

Wednesday was Hannahs first Occupational Therapy Session with Diana. She really had a good time. I am not sure if it was the therapy itself, all the attention she was getting or both. Being it was the first day, Hannah got to explore all of the rooms (gym being one of her favorite) and got to do lots of activities in each station. They have a gym, a pool, listening room, vibrating machines, bean boxes - hannah loved sitting in the box of dried beans and playing - kinda relaxing, toddler size stationary bikes, and goodness so much more. She even gets to do messy crafts and games that a lot of times you dont want to do at home because of the huge mess. She is so excited about her Therapy and that makes it so much easier. She got a little nervous when another therapist came in to help. She is not big on change. But she calmed down and warmed up after a while. It will get easier as time goes along. At first when we got the evaluation from Diana we just couldnt imagine our little girl being so far behind. She seemed perfectly "normal" to us. (apart from the behavioral fits and head banging). But each time Diana evaluates hannah during play she brings up something that I havent ever told her. It is really interesting to hear how much these therapists really know. There are a lot of things that Hannah does that are developmental delays, that we just thought were security issues or her being an extra lovable little girl.
We were taught the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol that will help us work on Hannahs tactile defensiveness and sensory regulation issues. You know those bristle brushes you get for a newborns hair from the hospital? Think of one even being softer.... rub it on your arm (lightly) .. you barely feel it, right? Well, in Hannahs case it hurts. She is overly sensitive to touch. That is why she screams like crazy when I BARELY brush her hair. And her hair is never tangled. The brush just runs STRAIGHT through. Crazy. I always got so frustrated with her screaming, and now I feel bad cause it actually DOES hurt her. This is going to be such a great learning experience for me.
For most of the evaluation she rated at 3 years and one month old, but on the academic part she rated 4 years 6 months. Yeah. Diana told us numerous times that we have done an amazing job with Hannah considering all the stuff she has going on. I am glad to hear we have done a good job. I just wish we would have known something earlier.

If I havent mentioned it before, they are saying she has a Sensory Processing Disorder along with some other stuff. If it turns out she does have a seizure disorder, then the medication might help with alot of her issues. And therapy might not take near as long. Yeah! I am ready for this - It will be crazy with all the therapy and stuff, but whatever it takes to make my baby girl healthy and happy is what I live for. Here we go. Friday is our next session. Hannah wants to swim, so I guess we will be swimming. :)