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Mar29
My Second OT Visit
10 CommentsNote: For information about my first OT visit, see my previous post.
For my second appointment, I showed up slightly less of a wreck than I did at the first, but still in need of some grounding. This time, the OT used the Thumper, a big vibrating machine that she ran back and forth over my back. The vibration was so strong that I could feel it inside my ears. It was another piece of heaven.
Once I got more grounded, we talked about how the past week’s activities had gone and discussed new activities to try in the coming week.
Therapeutic Brushing
After hearing about my negative experience with the brushing, the OT agreed that I should discontinue it. Instead of the brushing, we tried using soft bean bags and tapping them on my arms and legs. It felt okay at the office, but when I tried it at home, it felt distinctly like hitting myself, which is a trigger. She had also mentioned that I might try using a soft fabric that I find comforting. I have tried using the velvet fabrics I have, and they feel okay on my arms, but I still resist the whole activity. Trauma stuff, I think. Anyway, I do what I can.Drawing an Infinity Sign
When I told my OT how frustrated I felt drawing the infinity sign, she suggested that I just imagine a large one on the wall and track it with my eyes. I’ve been doing that every day, and it feels really great. I can actually move my eyes without moving my head! After 50 years of doing it the other way, that really amazes me. I even find myself playing around with the exercise at work. I’ll look at something, and then shift my eyes to another object without moving my head. Everyone is so busy looking at all the objects in the store that no one notices the strange woman in the linen department doing eye exercises.Learning the Cross-Crawl
At this visit, my OT taught me something called a “cross crawl,” in which I lift my right hand and then use it to touch my upraised left knee, and then use my left hand to touch my upraised right knee. The point is to cross the center line in my body in order to get comfortable with the parts of my body working independently. I find this particular exercise very easy, as it reminds me of various karate exercises that also work with crossing the body’s center line.Singing
After hearing that the vibrations from the Thumper felt like they were inside my ears, the OT told me to sing every day. She said the vibrations would help to activate and soothe my vestibular system, which controls balance and movement, and is based in the inner ear. I always sing when I work out anyway, so this has been an easy one to practice each day. I also want to relearn Torah cantillation. In fact, the book and a small keyboard have been sitting in my loft, beckoning me for months. I’m hoping to add cantillation to my OT routine at some point.Proprioceptive Activities and Late-Night Snacking
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the propriocetive system provides information about the relative positions of the parts of the body. Engaging the proprioceptive system includes how we feel the joints in our body and the kind of pressure we put on them. The right amount of pressure is very soothing.I find that I do a number of activities to engage the proprioceptive system, such as using a weighted blanket and weighted vests, bicycling, taking walks, doing my artwork, and fidgeting with whatever object is handy. I wondered whether my tendency to eat a lot before bedtime is also related to my need for proprioceptive activities. My OT said that chewing on things engages the joints in the jaw in a powerful way, which is why I like chewy, crunchy things at bedtime. I’m using them to calm myself down.
I don’t particularly like using food for this purpose on a regular basis, and she suggested that I try a different proprioceptive activity when I feel food cravings without being hungry. It’s going to take a while to work out of the habit of using food to calm myself at night, but the amount I eat seems to be diminishing as I do other activities. Last night, for instance, I spent some time doing my artwork and ended up eating a lot less than usual before bedtime.
When all is said and done, I’m enjoying the process of occupational therapy. Because of my executive dysfunction, I’m still having difficulty consistently working the exercises into my daily routine. But I’ll get there.
2009 by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg
10 Responses to “My Second OT Visit”
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Good for you…it sounds great, and is great to hear the specific things that she is telling you to do. I’d like to hear as much about this as you’d like to share, very interesting to me personally.
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Thanks, Kate. If you have any particular questions, feel free to post them or to send me an email.
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Wow, I’m learning a lot about myself reading this! Singing is something I absolutely NEED to do. Often, it is when I feel overwhelmed socially. I love to retreat to my car, alone, and sing song after song. It balances me out, allows me to refocus, and dampens the tension and stress.
The Thumper sounds heavenly.
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wow, i want a Thumper.
i sing sometimes, and i hum a lot. i’ve also hummed in such a way that my whole head vibrates, including my eyes! i also sometimes hum against another body part, like my forearm (well, i can’t reach many other parts
i don’t know if you do this, but i also rub things back and forth against my lips, and i find it really absorbing. the lips have more nerve endings than any other part of our skin. weird AS fact of the day…. -
About that Thumper…Today I went to my appointment and got the Thumper treatment on my back before the OT exercises *and* after. OMG! It was almost impossible to get up afterward. My OT said, “Take your time getting up,” but if I’d taken my time, I’d still be lying there on the mat…
Interesting about the lips having lots of nerve endings. That must be why I liked brushing my lips with the ends of my newly trimmed hair when I was a kid.
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John Dale Lyons March 30th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Good luck with it!
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Hi Rachel,
I have always used cuddle blankets against my face and top lip, this is instantly calming and balancing. I sucked two fingers at night until I was fourteen because the stimulation helped balance my system so that I didnt have strange floating, falling and tipping sensations, when I forced myself to stop this, trouble with over eating began. I need to chew and crunch things especially at night. I do alot of repeatative artwork like needle work because it is so calming and centering for me, also it allow my memory to calm down enough for me to plan things, and remember things that I have forgotten. Thank goodness for stubborness and tenacity, I am in admiration of the way you cope and learn to do new things. -
Hi Linda,
This is so interesting. I get the falling sensation when I’m falling asleep sometimes. I feel like I’m weightless and then I feel like I slip, as though I’ve slipped going down a stair. I’ve always wondered what that’s about. I wonder whether it’s a vestibular system issue. I’m going to ask my OT about this. Thanks!
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I love going back and reading your OT visit blogs.
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It’s very cool that you do!
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About Me
I'm Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, and I publish this blog, Journeys with Autism. I'm a wife, mother, writer, singer, artist, photographer, community volunteer, and the chapter leader for the Vermont Chapter of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN).
At the age of 50, I awoke to my place on the autism spectrum and discovered a world of gifts, struggles, and life-changing possibilities. My latest book, The Uncharted Path: My Journey with Late-Diagnosed Autism, was published in July of 2010. My work has also appeared in Shift Journal of Alternatives: Neurodiversity and Social Change and in the Disability Rights and Neurodiversity section of the ASAN website.
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