Entry for October 28, 2008

Yesterday I got to take the boys to their occupational therapy appointment—something I haven’t gotten to participate in, in several months. The only appointments our OT therapist has open are during times that I work, so Joe has been taking Asher. Cainan comes along, because he actually helps Asher, and it’s good for him too. Let me explain.

Part of Asher’s sensory issues have to do with his awareness of his own body, what it’s doing and how it feels in space. As a result, Asher is very, very wary of many activities, especially those that involve movement or putting himself in an unfamiliar environment. Cainan, on the other hand, is fearless. So, when we’re trying to get Asher to do a new activity, we’ll ask Cainan to do it first. For some reason, Asher doesn’t trust any of us if he sees us doing the activity, but if he sees his brother doing it, then he realizes it must not be deadly and he will try it also. As a result, they both benefit from the OT.

Anyway, as I was saying, I had not gotten to go to the therapy sessions since the very first few when we first started taking Asher. It was so amazing to see his progress first hand. Both the boys love going to Lynn’s (our OT) and Asher is very comfortable with the games they play and activity she chooses for him. We’ve seen the improvements at home, of course, but I hadn’t seen him interacting with Lynn. He was amazing. He was active and confident. He tried new things and had a blast. Cainan interacted too, until he got tired. I took some video of Asher using the swing—one of his favorite activities. I’m hoping it will make a real difference when we go to Disneyland in a few weeks. Last time, he was afraid to ride just about anything because he was so fearful of the movement, sounds, lights, etc. I’m hoping all his therapy will help him to handle the sensory input at the “Happiest place on Earth” and we can all enjoy the park together.

The boys are very excited about our upcoming trip, but last time Asher would hardly ride anything without being terrified and clinging to one of us or crying. We’ve really been talking this trip up and he’s been going to OT since June, so I’m hopeful he will enjoy the park as much as his brother—who loves every bit of it.

I’m glad to see Asher’s made so much progress with his OT. I’m grateful we have insurance that will cover it because it’s had a dramatic affect on him. There’s no way we would have been able to get him this service if we had to pay out of pocket. As much as my heart’s desire is to be a stay at home mom, I’m extremely grateful for the income and benefits my job affords our family. Now if I could just figure out a way to become independently wealthy, I could have both!