Adult getting first ever treatment for AS

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I had my first ever occupational therapy session today and I'm really excited about it! I'm keeping a log book that I write into every hour or so and I'm going to be working on sensory issues and getting some help with social problems and can't wait.

What has your experience of OT been like?

Never had it. I had a family member was an occupational therapist and sometimes I'd visit them at work. There was this one boy with brain damage who was about 16 but had the mind of a 7 year old, and I was 10, and he really enjoyed my presence during his sessions because he never really got to play with kids being he was technically 16.

To be honest, of what I know of OT, I don't really see how it would help someone with AS of average or above average intelligence.

I'm not really familiar with occupational therapy, but I'm very happy for you. You seem very excited indeed. I hope you get what you are looking for out of it and find it helpful. May I ask what your therapy entails, more specifically? What are you doing in order to overcome your sensory issues, for example? I'm curious. Best luck. ^_^

Well I've only just had my first session and I'm just beginning to learn about it. Regarding the sensory issues, it's not going to permanently cure it obviously but the therapy will teach me ways of helping myself with situations where the sensory problems are in the way. With sensory integration disorder, the brain misinterprets messages from touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell, and the idea is to keep correcting the brain's interpretation. For example, I'm very sensitive to light touch. What happens is, if someone touches me lightly, I get the same sort of reaction as if they had just slapped me or pinched me. The brain doesn't really know how to differentiate between these. So I have to correct the brain's perception of light touch. First I have to tell it what a firm touch REALLY feels like, by pressing as hard as I can bear on the area. Now that my brain remembers what a firm touch is really like, I can touch that area lightly and get the correct reaction, i.e. just a gentle tickle. Hope that makes sense...

This is what our bodies are trying to do when we get the urge to rock back and forth - we're trying to correct our brains' perceptions of where we are in space by stimulating our sense of balance. So I'm going to learn lots of little self-help things to do with all of the senses and hopefully some day-to-day activities will be easier!

Normally people get OT in childhood, but I wonder if it's more effective in adulthood as we're old enough to understand the technicalities of it?

That's interesting, Niamh. Please keep us posted, it might help some of us to do our own D.I.Y. occupational therapies.

Young brains are apparently more plastic, but there are possible advantages to being older.