I'm quite desperate to help my 11 year old and our local resources are extremely limited. There is only one outpatient pediatric OT in network with our insurance and due to my son's complicated medical needs I truly don't have the resources to pay out of pocket to continue to work with the home health OT who has recently helped us begin to understand his needs. The outpatient OT is great with helping him progress with practical motor goals, but has very little experience with sensory treatment and has an extremely full caseload, so we are only seen about every 6 weeks, even though we should be able to go weekly. Some of his behaviors are reaching a breaking point in school, so I have been doing everything I can to learn about sensory processing and how to help him. It is so complicated, I have such a tremendous amount of respect for all of the professionals and parents who have so much knowledge and understanding, and I'm here to learn everything I can from you!

One of my biggest hurdles currently is trying to understand the intricacies of how my son can appear both sensory seeking and sensory avoiding (I.e. he has auditory sensitivities but also "craves" music). I'm also trying to find ways to help him manage overstimulation in school. The strategies that work the best at home aren't the best solutions for school. Chewing helps a lot, but he will only actually chew items that are flexible, and he is an aggressive chewer, so I'm always looking for good options. I think fidgets could potentially help if I could find the right thing, because the fidgets I've given him that keep him from biting his fingers and supplies tend to make him "intense" and he can't put them down when it is time to transition back to work time.

I'm learning this is a process for me, too, and I understand it better every day but it is definitely complex. My son has a long history of complex medical needs and s team of specialists, so I have learned a lot over the years, and this is by far the most difficult issue for me to understand and manage, so to see so many parents take it in stride gives me hope and inspiration.