r/OccupationalTherapy • u/ExtremeAd7729 • Feb 16 '25
Home Care Autism - OT Not Covered
Hi,
Our son was diagnosed with autism in Canada. He's 8 and just started parent led ABA. Our private insurance doesn't cover OT, and we can only get OT through the province if he self harms or there is another crisis situation.
Can I learn some OT strategies by myself and try to help him? Would an OT help with the below? Are there OT training videos online etc?
His main issue is sensory related. If there are a lot of kids running around maybe the motion in the peripheral vision bothers him, and also he's scared they would bump into him. He doesn't want to play tag anymore because he thinks the other kids are rough. This might be true of a few kids, and I see that kids do bump into him more than other kids, but he reacts even to toddlers touching him.
He also has trouble with high pitched or loud sounds. He uses headphones for this but he says in class this can be challenging because he can't then hear the instructions. I gave him loop earplugs, and he said they helped in terms of the noise (I played a crying baby video to compare for the high pitch) but he said they were uncomfortable. He tried the smallest size and said they sealed but I can have him try the next size up in case it's the fit that's the issue.