Well, we finally got the call to start OT!  Though Jerry was recommended for three hours a week, they only have openings for two of those hours right now.  But we'll take what we can get.  He goes on Tuesdays from 1 - 2 p.m. and on Thursdays from 11 a.m. until 12 p.m.

Today was our first appointment and Jerry was a little apprehensive when Miss Erin came to get him.  He remembered Miss Sarah from his evaluation.  Miss Erin let me and Ben and Jonathan go into the therapy room with him and watch and that made him feel more comfortable.  Of course, it wasn't but a few minutes of seeing all of the cool swings and cabinets full of games and puzzles and Jeremiah was as happy as could be to kick his shoes off and settle in with Miss Erin. 

First, they made a list of things Jerry wanted to do and then down to therapy (though I'm certain Jerry thought of this as some sort of awesome playdate).  Swinging was first on the list of course, as Jerry would rather do nothing all day than swing.  He chose the platform swing.

He loved this as Miss Erin spun him in circles until he was dizzy and swung him back and forth.  Holding on tight and sitting "criss-cross applesauce", he had no clue that he was actually exercising his upper muscles.

Next he and Miss Erin put together a Transformers puzzle and then they played Ants in the Pants, which he loved and giggled through.  He worked his pointer finger and thumb thumping the ants into the dog's overall pants.  He didn't even get frustrated when he missed!  He just kept thumping away until he got all of his ants in the pants.  Ok, he did cheat on a few and just throw them in!

Next Miss Erin let Ben and Jonathan play a game of Kerplunk with them.  After painstakingly inserting sticks through holes on two sides of a plastic cup, the object is to pull the sticks out one at a time without letting any of the marbles on top of the sticks fall through to the bottom of the cup.  Jerry lost, big time, as he had more marbles than anyone else!  But he didn't seem to care.  And once again, he didn't even notice he was exercising his pinching fingers to insert and pull out the sticks.

With time left to spare and everything crossed off their list of things to do, Miss Erin let Jeremiah swing again and this time he picked the moon swing.  He had to cross his arms and legs to hold onto the swing and this became his favorite activity of all.  He would slip off and land on the foam mat below and just giggle, get back on, and do it again.

So overall, I think OT will be viewed as a fun therapy and not so much a laborious one like speech often is for Jerry.  He already can't wait to go back on Thursday.  I am hoping this isn't some sort of honeymoon period of course and that he won't, after time, resist working with Miss Erin.  I do think it helps that this is one-on-one, unlike the speech.  I did have to fill out a behavioral management form for him today and describe what things Jerry struggles with and what behavior management techniques he best responds to.  This was difficult as, with Jerry, what works can change from day to day!

Other than that, I learned something today as well....always make sure Jerry has clean socks on!

By the way, here are Jerry's OT recommendations and goals, both short and long-term: