Yesterday, I prepped the dotter for the assessment this morning.  I told her we were going to go play with Miss Louise, and that Miss Louise might be able to help her calm down from her tantrums.

Then, at bedtime, I repeated it.

Then, this morning, I repeated it.

Repitition, with 4-year-olds, is a Good Thing.

Miss Louise was awesome.  I have only seen an equivalent performance once, with a veterinarian we had when Dawg was a pup.  This veterinarian sat on the floor with our pup and loved on him and played with him for half an hour.  In the process, our pup had his initial physical examination.  Without pup even noticing.

Miss Louise did the same thing with OmegaDotter.  They played with toys.  They played with magnets.  They played with beaded necklaces.  They colored together.  Miss Louise got OmegaDotter up onto a platform swing.  Miss Louise got OmegaDotter to play on a big balance ball.  And on and on.

When we started out, I watched and said to myself, "Oh, lordy, Miss Louise is gonna tell me I'm full of it--there's nothing going on there!"

But.  But.  After a while, it was obvious.  One technique is to drape the beaded necklaces over the kid's back and lightly rub them against the skin--OmegaDotter immediately said, "Ow!"  So Miss Louise playfully tried them on her own head, then tried them on OmegaDotter.  And, once again, OmegaDotter immediately said, "Ow!"  Same with the arms, the legs.  This is similar to how she behaves with us when coming out of a tantrum--she can't be touched for a while, until she calms down a bit.

Then there is the tendency to sit "W-style".  OmegaDotter does this by preference all the time.  I didn't realize, but it's apparently a no-no, because it discourages developing certain proprioceptive movement abilities, because it's such a stable sitting position you don't need to learn balance, coordination, or how to reach across your body with a hand to the other side.

There was thumping.  There was banging.  (Gentle, but firm.)  All of which OmegaDotter loved.  I asked dotter, "Can you tell Miss Louise how you act when Mommy or Daddy comes to school to get you?"  Dotter was nonplussed, but Miss Louise immediately said, "Dotter, do you go crashing into Mommy and Daddy because you're so glad to see them?"  (Oh, yes.  Crashing, banging, thumping--these are the dotter's favorite way to greet and show love.  I am constantly urging her to "be gentle!")

Then there was brushing her arms and legs with a very soft-bristle surgery brush.  Once again, the dotter loved this.

There was the simple question, "How does she handle medicine--cold medicines, stuff like that?"  Haw haw haw.  I think I've blogged on this issue before.  Let me just say that it is a horrible scene trying to get the dotter to take medicine of any kind.

So.  The end result is that Miss Louise will present me with a report, talk it over with me, send the report to our pediatrician, and we will (no doubt) be going many more times.

Other observations: 

"She's doing so well because she's so very smart and finding ways to compensate!"  Har.  Appeal to the ol' mom pride and joy instinct, eh? 

Some folks think sensory integration therapy is bunk, or a simple result of the placebo effect.  However, there are a lot of folks who think many children adopted from orphanages are likely to have sensory issues, due to the lack of stimulation and lack of one-on-one touching/caring/giving that being one of many being cared for by too few that happens in institutional settings.  Even in the best of cases, you're likely to have four women taking care of twenty kids, all day, every day.  When the dotter came home with us, she needed constant attention.  It was obvious she was starving for it.

I want to be taught to deal with children the way Miss Louise does.  Man, is she good!

The overall thing is that dotter is physically craving and seeking stuff that helps her cope with the world.  Thus, the crashing, banging etc.  And there are times that it all overwhelms her.  Thus, the tantrums, the need to do the foot thing at night, the absolute struggle to get her to take medicines.

Technorati: Sensory integration issues, therapy, skin brushing, w-style sitting