Case Study: Jessica

Therapist: Vivienne Williams

Issues & Programs

What were the problems?

Jessica (not her real name) was diagnosed with autism and intellectual impairment and when I first saw her at 7 years of age, she had severe anxiety and sensory defensiveness, an aversion to all learning activities, major attention difficulties and a global developmental delay (issues with social, emotional, play and gross and fine motor skills). For example, Jessica was very frightened by noises and would have to close all the windows whenever a train went past the clinic. At home, she would break all her shoes because she needed them to be so tight. She would also cry and hide whenever she saw letters.

What did Vivienne do?

Over a 1 year period:

What did her parents do?

  • Consistent application of all home programs including the Wilbarger Therapressure protocol for 6 months, Therapeutic listening CDs for 3 months and Astronaut program for 3 months
  • Environmental set-up/ changes
  • Tutoring/ Educational support (separate from OT)

Outcomes

  • Jessica’s sensory defensiveness was significantly reduced and is now no longer a problem for her.
  • Jessica is now interested in writing and learning activities. She is now reading up to “level 3 emergent readers”.
  • Jessica loves writing and her writing is mostly legible.
  • Jessica is confident with all movement activities.
  • Jessica’s motor skills are now functional when she has “learned” an activity.
  • Jessica had approximately 12 months off therapy.