Therapies - how much is too much?

I write this post more as a mother than an educator. Ever since Tuhina was a baby, I have been running around to various therapies - occupational therapy, speech, special ed. These have definitely helped a great deal but there have always been ups and downs in her learning curve. One question that often popped up in my mind is how much therapy is too little or too much? 

There was a time when I was working in a full time IT job and managing Tuhina's daily therapies, covering various parts of Delhi-NCR for a 45 min session in the late evening hours. Even with the crushing schedule, there were not many improvements I saw in her. As I retrospect there were two big reasons - for one I did not have enough time and training to work with her at home and secondly with all the running around all that remained consistent was a tired child. Since past few months I have increasingly started feeling that it is not as useful to have x number of hours of therapy sessions spread across various parts of city which eventually burns out the child and the caretaker. What is more helpful is to have a relaxed child who is not rushing through the day to make space for conventional therapies but who rather has a mix of learnings from professional sessions and activities of interest. 

Tuhina has a lot of interest in music and water. So this summer I have regularly taken her to the pool, with the idea to let her enjoy the water and do something that she loves even if she does not learn to swim. Another thing was buying a big piano for her which both of us play. These are the two activities that we both do together and I have seen a lot of improvement in her. I have a happier child who is learning to enjoy situations and activities. Water also relaxes her the same way an OT session would do. Even after years of sensory integration therapy, Tuhina's sensory issues have not really settled. So, an activity based approach like water play or sand play seems more fruitful to me than to brave hours of traffic to reach the other end of city every other day for an OT session. Not that it is not important, but it should be planned keeping in mind how much the child can take and how much is benefiting and not just adding number of hours. 

Adding activities that the child enjoys in their learning schedule and building up those skills does help in the overall well being of the child. It swells your heart with happiness to see a child enjoying themselves constructively and probably bonding with you over things they like. 

And you never know how your child may surprise you with what they can learn if they are interested. Tuhina has started to float in water for a short while which gives me so much hope that she will eventually learn to swim one day and one of my dreams for her will come true :). With autism, its a long road, and as in marathon you can not run at full speed all the while to be able to run for long.