Occupational Therapy evaluation - questions!!!

forkeeps251

Member
OK, so I finally made an appointment for an occupational therapy evaluation, and it is next Tuesday! Now I've got questions...
What can I expect? What does an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation do? Does it just point out potential problems? It doesn't provide any diagnosis, does it? Is it usually two meetings, one for the evaluation and one to find out what the therapist thinks? Will it just be helpful to have as yet another evaluation to hand over to the psychologist or psychiatrist whenever he finally gets in to see them?
Unfortunantly I don't think my insurance will cover it, but I was fortunate enough to find a place that has what sounds like a reasonable rate for the evaluation.
 

buddy

New Member
I had several forms to fill out, basic health stuff, and a sensory profile, some developmental assessment stuff, fine motor quesitons, etc. He had actual motor things to do and standardized protocols/tests.

let me see if I can find where posted the results.....

Occupational Therapist (OT) results...
fine motor: 4th percentile
manual dextrity, upper limb coordination: 5th percentlie for both
body coordination: 2nd percentile
interpretation: difficulty with rt/lt distinction knowing which side of body can help him the most. (makes sense with such a large rt. sided injury). unable to do motor skills like touching his nose with his eyes closed., couldn't do imitative things like itsy bitsy spider movements.

visual motor: visual 5th percentile motor 1st visual-motor 5th percentile.

very interesting that his sensory profile at that time.... was similar to most people....they used the adolescent/adult form which just doesn't really let me interpret things, you are supposed to ask the kids and it doesn't match up to the younger version. so I did that one at the hospital and they found he was very sensory seeking... this current place I am going to gave me the adolescent form, I asked for the other one. I scored both for them.


Vestibulr movement: 0 seconds of nystagmus. she said it is consistent with his poor reflex integration (he still has reflexes that most babies outgrow early on, these things dont show up as obvious motor delays and are so very ignored in real life)

proprioceptive/muscle joint processin: supine posture against gravity: normal....... prone extension is below average

asymmetric tonic neck reflex (tnr) is still present on both sides. she explains that this is integrated in the first year of life (you know how a baby turns his head one way and the arm on t eh other side goes out? That's it.) can interfere with bilaterial skills, midline crossing activities. weightbearing in quadruped position is not done on flat hands, this is often seen in children who have retained atnr.

functional visual problems...scores all show at risk for this

hard time following things with eyes only... suggests difficulty wih binocularity skills

motor planning: good, strength...can plan, execute and sequence novel motor activities like climbing thru new equipment etc.

mental functions: had hard time following long directions

neuromusculoskeletal, no obvious deficits....except showed weaker performance onleft side than rt (makes sense since injury is rt sided)

this was all done at age 11-5

all scores showed fine motor deficits including paper/pencil tasks, manipulation of tools and small items, using both sides of the body together, balance nd ball handling skills

she talked about how it impacts daily living.... really good how she interprets it for the non motor person and can see how it impacts real life.




so just sharing to process with you all. Maybe it will show people who have not had these kinds of evaluations what one can look like too... the Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation was especially helpful.
 
L

Liahona

Guest
difficult child 1 just had one. There were questionairs for me to fill out. She did a bunch of motor stuff with difficult child 1. We talked. She talked to difficult child 1. She typed up suggestions for us to do at home. Then a few days later I went back to pick up the report where she typed up a summery of what we talked about and what we knew already (difficult child 1 has mild sensory issues and auditory hallucinations.) We determined that difficult child 1 didn't need a follow up appointment,, but if he did then we would've scheduled another appointment then.
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Wow! We've been going weekly for over 4 months now. Our Occupational Therapist (OT) did a THOROUGH evaluation of EVERYTHING she could think of. It was amazing that the things she's found wouldn't have been found in only one evaluation session. difficult child 1 wouldn't have tolerated cooperating for as long as it has actually taken her over many sessions if she'd tried to do it all in one.

I guess it all depends on the Occupational Therapist (OT). I asked for a thorough evaluation and I got a THOROUGH evaluation.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
We asked specifically for sensory and motor evaluations...

You are correct, Occupational Therapist (OT) does not provide a diagnosis.
However, Occupational Therapist (OT) does more than just provide test results...
Occupational Therapist (OT) also has therapies that can help various situations - both sensory, and motor related.
And yes, the test results ARE useful to others (neuropsychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, school etc.)
 
Top