Banished from Occupational Therapy

In the annals of Phone Calls One Dreads....

I was just running errands when I got a call from Blink's occupational therapist telling me at his appointment this morning, he threw an epic meltdown. Screaming, check. Running away, check. Yelling things like, "I wish you were dead!", check. Trying to bite the therapist, check.

Getting kicked out of occupational therapy, check.

Sigh. Oh, and all of this on the morning that we have a fill-in PCA taking him to OT.

I get it, I do. I certainly wouldn't want to endure this behavior from my clients.  I guess this was the last straw for her. To be honest, I never really thought she and Blink had the best working relationship. They seemed to get embroiled in power struggles a bit much.

But part of me is sitting here, feeling like all the progress we've made this year is crumbling and taking away services isn't going to help. The very fact that this is happening indicates, to me, the need for more occupational therapy.

Erm, maybe somewhere else.

I sat down with Blink to discuss it. He was still stuck on the disagreement that set it off:  joint compressions. He really hates the way they feel. The occupational therapist was telling him that it is good for him, that it will help him, that studies show...  This incensed my dear son. He doesn't care what a study says, he cares what he is feeling and couldn't take the fact that once again, nobody was listening to him.  And I understand that.

Of course it doesn't mean he somehow has full license to freak out on everyone around him. We went over the fact that even though he disagreed, his occupational therapist was in charge.

I matter-of-factly told him that she doesn't want to see him anymore. He looked surprised. He admitted feeling a little sad about that and understood why she doesn't want to work with him anymore ("because I'm having a hard time controlling my anger,")  We talked about how to make it up to her and we settled on him calling and leaving her a message.  IN A FRIENDLY VOICE, I stressed about a thousand times.  So he called and apologized for hitting, yelling mean things, and trying to bite her. I then whispered, "you can tell her you'll miss her," and he said, "And I hope you change your mind so I can see you again soon."

So. I suppose the search for OT begins anew.