The appointment :)

We had Charlotte assessed for Sensory Processing Disorder by an Occupational Therapist today. i'll skip to the bottom line first: She definitely shows sensory issues, but because she's exceeding her milestones and it doesn't make it dfficult/impossible to function daily, she probably wouldn't qualify for a diagnosis of SPD. So, pretty much good news.

If you know anything about the senses, this will make more sense to you lol. Charlotte is sensory-seeking for Vestibular and Proprioceptive activities. Vestibular Sense is your sense of motion; if your Vestibular Sense is underactive, you're a "seeker", and you're always in motion and always seeking fast movements, swinging, rocking, etc. This is my Char. She also has an underactive Proprioceptive Sense, which is a little harder to explain but it's basically your sense of your own position in the world around you. Proprioceptive "seekers" like Charlotte love to climb to high places, bump into things a lot, don't feel pain as intenty, etc. Again, Charlotte to a T.

One thing i found interesting is that the OT said that biting provides proprioceptive input. This is kind of surprising to me. i actually would have thought it to be tactile; either oral stimulation or maybe taste. So this could be pretty helpful!

Her recommendation is going to be to give Char 2-3 OT sessions and help us get set up to do therapy at home to provide her with the vestibular and proprioceptive input she needs. Of course we already give her lots of outlets,spending tons of time outside, going to playgrounds, etc, but this will be more specific exercises to give her the input and also to do exercises that will help "order" those senses. Yay!

One thing i'm not sure how i feel about honestly is the recommendation that when she bites or tries to bite, to give her her chewy toy and tell her not to bite people but to bite the toy, then praise her when she chews the toy. It kind of feels like rewarding the bad behavior. i don't like to be punitive necessarily, but it still feels off. But if it helps...