Breakthrough

We had a breakthrough today at occupational therapy. I usually don't get to take Will because I'm working, so today was a treat for me. Will did some things I'd never seen him do before. His therapist has been working with him putting these little pegs into holes. He usually just threw the peds or put them in his mouth. Today, he actually put them in the holes and then let go of them. He never lets go! That is one thing that we've really been working hard on. She also tries to get him to drop the checkers into the stacker in the game Connect Four. He usually won't let go of the checkers or puts them in his mouth. If he does try to put them into the stacker, he usually gets frustrated and screams or hits himself. Well, today he put them into the stacker and let go. His therapist, Rose, said she could really see some improvement in his skills and his attention span. Both of those are big praise reports. She also suggested using brushing and joint compression to help sensitize Will's nerves. She said this would help him be less sensory defensive. The hard part about it is that you're supposed to do this every 2 hours while he's awake. This means that we'd have to get the school to agree to do it while he's there. They are very sweet and accomodating to all the kids special needs, but this would really interrupt Will's day. We're going to talk to the teacher and see what she thinks. If any of you have experience with this, let me know how it's worked out for you.