Autistic like behaivor.and Occupational Therapy?

Question

My son is 3.5 years old- he will be 4 in February. He shows many signs of autism but the doctors and myself are not ready to fully diagnosis that yet( (thankfully). The short version of his story is that he has always done things on his own time frame. He did not walk until he was 15 months. In April, he got his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears to help with his balance. He drooled forever before the surgery and his talk want not understandable. His drooling slowed down after the surgery and his speech has improved. I have him in speech therapy, he goes to see the developmental pediatrician and he will be starting preschool soon. His speech therapist had noted maybe with some problems with his motor skills and I am wondering if anyone knows what an Occupational Therapist does/what I can expect. I am just not sure what they will ask or what they will tell me and I am anxious....any help would be appreciated.

He eats everything and anything! He loves pasta! He eats some vegetables. He eats some meat. He is eating more variety of food. He loves pasta. WIC does test for anemia and nothing happens there. I take him for all of his checkups because that is where I work and he is doing okay. He is starting to gain weight now. He is 39 inches tall which is tall for his age. His weight is 35lbs which is not low but average.

Answer 1

An occupational therapist (OT) works generally with fine motor skills such as picking up small items, pencil grip etc. They will probably assess him by looking at things such as how he holds a pencil, how steady his drawing is (e.g. can he draw a line, can he draw a cross, can he draw a circle), can he pick up small objects such as small beads or grains of rice, can he manipulate small objects such as thread bead onto a peice of string or place coins in a money box and has he fifured out his hand dominance yet (does he have a preference for left or right hand) they will also look at whether he can "cross the midline" (put one hand/arm over to the oppposite side of his body.
They will then provide activities/exercises or run sessions with him if necessary

Answer 2

My grandson is autistic and he gets ST and OT and the whole shebang. Basically they assess your son to see where he is compared to where he should be. For instance, my grandson is 4 and still can't handle scissors. Then they develop a therapy plan around his weaknesses. In Aidan's case they do a lot of hands on things with him, from having him draw lines on eraser boards to catching and throwing balls to using those scissors. The questions they ask will all be along the lines of; what does or doesn't your child do? Does he dress himself, throw a ball and catch it, etc.

Answer 3

How is his nutritional status????? Essential fatty acid levels? Vitamin and Mineral status? Does he have any food intolerances? (I'm betting there is a milk allergy issue, given his history of tonsillectomy and 'tubes'.) Has he been tested for Celiac Disease????? Amino acid levels? How is his gut function? Has he been on antibiotics? Does he have an imbalance in his microbiota (the organisms living in the gut) called dysbiosis? Does he have a 'leaky gut', which allows foreign molecules, even bacteria, into his body? And, of course, has he been tested for heavy metal toxicities (e.g. lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, etc.)?

Why do I suspect that NONE of these issues have been investigated. Hope you can find a Doctor with the kind of knowledge to really help your son - he deserves the best!

Best wishes and good luck.