Swinging at St Giles

Noah has had the same OT (Occupational Therapist) since he was a baby. Now that he is at Newstead Heights School the majority of the time he is also seen by the school OT. It's great having St Giles so close to school as it means he can see an OT or physio anytime one is needed. It also means his wheelchair is looked at straight away if there is a problem. as the seating clinic technician comes straight over. We recently met the new OT and she is really lovely. She set up some appointments for Noah to do some sessions with her during the school holidays, but unfortunately school holidays threw me right out of routine, and I totally forgot I had made the appointments (even though they were written on my calendar!).

Today we finally caught up at St Giles to talk about some more things they can do at school to stimulate Noah. Harri was so excited when he knew where we were going and said 'we haven't been there for ages, have we Mum!'. Before Noah started school we used to go once a fortnight and Harri loved coming as it meant he could play in the big gym. Kobe was so excited when we got inside and he saw all the cool toys.


The OT and I talked a lot about the 'cause and affect' type activities Noah used to do a lot when he was at Early Learning, and how well he responded to it when it was something that happened regularly. She said that movement and touch are one of the things that babies and kids like Noah respond to really well, so swinging was something she wanted to try with him to see how he responded.

Harri was like the paparazzi on the side snapping photos of us!

We would give him 4-6 swings and then she wanted us to stop so I could let him know I was still there with him and see how he was coping with it all I could see he actually really liked it.

She wanted to know how I could tell he liked it and I explained how his face and eyes were really relaxed and his eyes were bright and alert. It's funny how you take knowing his responses for granted as people who don't really know him wouldn't have had a clue if he was enjoying it or not.

We then did some sliding with him into a big crash mat at the end.

She also did lots of whizzing him around on the mats which he also seemed to enjoy.

Harri and Kobe were so good playing quietly while it all went on, so the OT then did a few things with Harri. I thought it was so nice of her as often the boys have to be patient and wait while I deal with teachers, Drs and therapists and don't get to join in on the fun with Noah.

It was great to have such a keen OT and it will be good to have some things happening regularly at school for him.