‘Johnny’ is a four-year-old was diagnosed with Level 3 Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of two and had been attending DIR therapy session with our OT’s for a year.
During the COVID-19 health crisis, Johnny was unable to attend clinic sessions but his parents knew how important it was to continue with weekly therapy sessions. We were able to connect Johnny and his mother with an occupational therapist facilitated by telehealth therapy sessions.
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Johnny’s mother shared with us how empowering she found the first session. She felt she was in the ‘drivers seat’ of his development and reported her engagement with Johnny grew tenfold. The home therapy sessions, working directly with his mum, proved positive for Johnny too, who began to problem solve himself. He was more content working on these skills at home than he had been in the clinic and made rapid progress in attention and regulation, relationship building, and even glimmers of pretend play.