My son is 13 and very bright. We were told that he had proprioceptive and vestibular issues along with his low muscle tone at age 7. We had been told to homeschool after kindergarten because he was ahead academically so he didn't fit in with age mates both physically and academically. He also had dysgraphia but couldn't get OT in school because he wasn't failing. Our insurance would not pay for sensory integration therapy but we were told to read the Out of Sync Child Has Fun.

He has always had trouble sleeping but we are desperately looking for some way for him to learn to sleep in a painful scoliosis brace. He is supposed to wear it for 16 hours a day. He is able to stay in it for 8 hours at the most and it is very hard to do this. Pain medication doesn't seem to work well on him. He stopped taking melatonin after it stopped working. I don't know where to go from here.

Oh no that sounds really hard! I wonder if you could seek another opinion RE his scoliosis, like a chiropractor? I don't think most people could sleep wearing something painful, SPD or not. Would your insurance pay if the OT found him to have motor skill delays? Most kids with proprioceptive and vestibular issues do develop motor issues once they get to a certain point in development. Often the SI therapy and motor skill therapy go together.

I think his gross motor skills got better as he got older, especially his ability to do dance routines. His balance and timing improved with dance but he had to take breaks more often than other kids because he didn't have the endurance the other kids had. He also tried a mixed martial arts class and was able to balance well but he would wear out before other people in the class. Now that he is in a scoliosis brace full time he can't do anything to improve motor skills further. If we can't stop the spinal curvature by bracing he will have to have risky spinal fusion surgery that could leave him with more of a disability than he has now. He is willing to go through a lot of pain to avoid this surgery. There is nothing a chiropractor can do to stop the progression. We have to find a way to get him to sleep in this brace.

(12-20-2011, 06:26 PM)AngelaVA Wrote: Oh no that sounds really hard! I wonder if you could seek another opinion RE his scoliosis, like a chiropractor? I don't think most people could sleep wearing something painful, SPD or not. Would your insurance pay if the OT found him to have motor skill delays? Most kids with proprioceptive and vestibular issues do develop motor issues once they get to a certain point in development. Often the SI therapy and motor skill therapy go together.