A lot of the issues C’s had at school this year, like not being adequately challenged, have not been a surprise. We were surprised, however, by some social and behavioral issues that came up. While his school said they would pursue an OT evaluation for him, nothing has happened in the 6 weeks since. It turns out they dropped the ball and never got the paperwork in, so now we’ll be lucky if he gets evaluated this month.
I called a private OT that was recommended and spent some time on the phone with her describing C and answering her intake questions to see whether it would be worthwhile having him evaluated there. While she did have some good suggestions as far as OT is concerned, she also doled out some unsolicited advice about C’s placement in school. She went on about how academic needs can be easily met in any grade and that social issues are paramount. Without even meeting C, she said he would be a good candidate to repeat kindergarten next year. Ahem, he’s in first grade this year and still not properly challenged. I really couldn’t believe my ears, because of how unrealistic it is for her to think that gifted children’s academic needs can be met so easily and the fact that she felt qualified to even give that advice.
While she’s probably a great OT, I don’t think I will be taking C to her. Besides, I just found out that while the county will send an OT to C’s school to give him an OT evaluation, they won’t actually offer him therapy even if he needs it. They will only make suggestions to his teacher. While this is better than nothing, I think if I pursue a private evaluation it should be with someone who can offer him therapy as well. This means they have to be local, have hours after school or on weekends, and be at least somewhat familiar with giftedness… none of which describes the person I spoke with. How I go about finding this person, I’m not quite sure yet.
