I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but private pediatric OT clinics seem to be popping up everywhere! Like dandelions in the spring!

Pop! Pop! Pop! 

Now typically these clinics don’t just have OT, of course. They also offer speech and PT, a perfect trifecta to fix your kid! I think the attitude around peds OT today is both amusing and annoying. Everyone is recommending OT these days: PCPs, neuropsychs, PTs, social workers, your soccer mom neighbor down the street, your cousin with the annoying kids. 

“Oh your 3 year old is having meltdowns? Mine is too, but I just send them to OT!!”. 

“Oh, your kid won’t eat their green beans? OT can fix that! It’s probably some weird sensory thing.” 

“Your kid runs into walls all the time? Take them to the OT!” 

“Your kid pushed another kid on the playground? They probably have a sensory issue. Just take them to OT!” 

“Oh your kid refuses to put on their socks? Don’t worry, OT can fix that!”

“Your child is having unexplained fainting spells? Check with the OT! Maybe it’s sensory…” 

“Your 5 year old doesn’t have perfect penmanship and is not yet writing a short paragraph with at least one argument and source of evidence to support their argument??! Take them to the OT, they’ll fix that.” 

It’s amazing! It’s like a new fad!! Do OT, and your problems (whatever they may be) will be fixed! And don’t worry, because the answer to most of your problems is probably just SENSORY!!!! OTs know ALL about that!

 

No longer do you need to call on your relatives with years of child-rearing experience. Bye grandma! May your wisdom remain with you and only you forever. 

No longer do you have to interact with your neighbors, or connect with anyone in your community for that matter, to share support, advice, and vital human connection which is natural and necessary when raising children…just call on the magic genie OT! They’ve got your back. 

Now don’t be surprised if your OT bounces around the actual functional concern, spending years of your time and money fixing all the underlying nuts and bolts that were loose in your child and apparently causing all your issues in the first place…eventually the actual functional concern might be fixed, and in the meantime you can rest assured that you are seeing a licensed OT for your issues! 

Everyone’s going to the OT for all those weird or most likely perfectly normal things that You. Just. Don’t. Want. To. Deal. With. I’m sure parenting is hard, and there’s no shame in seeking help for genuine disabilities or mental health crises. But let’s face it. Most of the time, we’re outsourcing our parenting. 

Your kid’s having meltdowns? The OT will do some sensory guru magic and they’ll be good to go! Or if they’re a good OT, maybe they’ll just fill you in on some common sense advice that people used to get from their relatives back when families were close-knit and people handed down tried and true parenting practices that produced well-adjusted children.

 

But not every OT even knows about that advice! Every OT does things differently! Variety is the spice of life, right? Every OT reads different books and articles and gains different opinions! You never know what you’re gonna get (exciting like a box of chocolates)!

You might get the OT who blames everything on “sensory” (what a fun buzz word nowadays!). Your child’s meltdowns didn’t stop, but at least you’re seeing an “expert”, and that makes you feel right and dandy.

Or you might get the OT who believes in sticker charts and other things that go completely against long-known knowledge about how children’s brains are wired (but everyone in America is using them, so it must be right). 

You might get the OT that does Zones and the ALERT program, which don’t do much for most kids, but hey, at least they sound legit!

 

You are most definitely unlikely to get the OT that actually takes the time to do what every OT SHOULD do and help you change your likely poor parenting and lifestyle (*ahem* screen time *ahem*).

It’s like picking out mystery jellybean flavors…good luck to you (don’t pick the barf flavor)! 

Isn’t it so great that we as OTs never question Why we feel the need to open up so many clinics? Are we just so clinic happy that we skip right past the part where we stop and think:

“Hm…our kids are a disaster right now, and we keep opening up clinics, and our kids are still a disaster, and that number of disastrous children is growing…so maybe we should figure out why our kids are a disaster in the first place and tackle that, rather than putting bandaids on situations left and right?” 

Again, no disrespect to the amazing OTs out there making big impacts. But I do think there are some wonky things going on in the world of pediatrics that we’re just glossing right over. 

Please help me keep the conversation going by contacting me with your thoughts. Click the “Contact” tab on this website! 

Until next time,

The Inquisitive OT

🙂