April 16, 2025 • 17 mins
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Neurodiverse Conversations with Katie and Steph. In this episode, Katie, a neuroaffirming pediatric occupational therapist, and Steph, a mother of two neurodivergent children, introduce themselves, share their backgrounds, and discuss their personal experiences with neurodivergence. They explore the motivations behind starting this podcast and the mission to support and connect with the neurodivergent community.
Katie and Steph delve into the realities of raising neurodivergent children, the importance of understanding sensory needs, and the societal perceptions that need to change. They also discuss the significance of mental health awareness in both children and adults and emphasize the need for spaces where neurodivergent individuals can thrive.
Join them as they navigate the world of neurodiversity, offering insights, resources, and support for families and individuals. This episode sets the stage for future discussions on sensory integration, parenting neurodivergent children, and creating a more inclusive and accepting world for everyone.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
I'm Steph, the mother of two neurodivergent children and I am also neurodivergent.
Here's Katie.
She can introduce herself and tell you a bit more about what she does.
Hey y'all.
I'm Katie and I am a neuro affirming pediatric occupational therapist, and I'm so excited to partner with on this podcast so we can share.
(00:26):
All about our backgrounds and everything that makes us who we are and the world that we want to give back to as well.
I'm a mom to two kids and I navigate also uncovering and understanding my own neurodivergence as an adult.
And I found that it's really made me a better mother and also helped shape the way that I practice today.
(00:48):
So I'm excited to dive in.
Today, this is our first podcast and we are introducing ourselves, but also we are going to talk about what we want from this podcast for ourselves and for others.
And so why we connected to do this right.
Yep.
I met Katie when my children were at a acting class, I didn't meet her, but I found her business card.
(01:12):
At the time, I was really struggling to understand exactly what sensory was.
So that's why I was drawn to you, because I had been looking for someone who was teaching sensory integration, sensory profile, those kind of things.
'cause that's something that one of my children was currently seeing OT for.
(01:35):
I had been looking for someone that could guide me and I couldn't find 'em anywhere.
I think then just we started connecting on social media and we would have these conversations back and forth.
And then we just felt, connected and aligned and also just our families being together and realized that we both had these.
(01:55):
Missions that we wanted to give back to the neurodivergent population Yeah.
So we really did connect instantly so good job putting your card where you did, some of those divine timing things or just like those people that you come across, you're like I'm gonna reach out.
And then your whole life changes because of it.
Isn't it crazy? Yeah, absolutely.
That's exactly what this was.
(02:17):
And then, two, we were both homeschooling too.
So we really connected over the homeschooling journey.
Which we can also, talk about that at a later time for anyone who's interested.
But yeah, so the point of us coming together on this was just we wanted to bring awareness to This neurodivergent community, how can we really see children and meet them where they are? And what does that really mean too? What does that really mean to meet them where they are and how can we be connecting with them to have a better relationship? But also for me, the mental health aspect is huge.
(02:59):
Our culture struggles with mental health so much because of a lot of things that happen when you're a kid.
Is this me speculating, first of all, should I not be talking about this? I love this.
Keep going.
Okay and it's nobody's fault.
This is, I'm not saying that it is, it's just years of how you're raised and years of how your parents were raised.
(03:21):
My parents were raised and their grandparents, right? And then every generation adds something different, but we're never really aware of the mental health of it all.
And for especially neurodivergent people.
We really have a hard time because we don't feel like you fit in the first place.
And then you have all these rules that you need to be following that don't fit you and you don't understand it.
(03:48):
I know when I was growing up, I questioned everything because it seems so stupid, and, we just don't take into consideration that children should have a voice.
You want them to be able to say no, because it's healthy for them to learn those boundaries as a young child, so when they grow up, they feel okay to say no and have a boundary and keep their sanity.
(04:12):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of us that grew up as people pleasers because we are sucked into the society of do as you're told and you get rewarded and you just need to be certain way.
There's these certain standards that you have to meet.
And it just made me feel really trapped and I didn't really realize that I could be louder than I was.
(04:35):
Or you're told that you're bossy when you're younger, if stand up for yourself.
And, there could be some gender stereotypes with that too, but also even just realizing I think uncovering my own neurodivergence, but also the reason I created my business in the way that I did.
And we met when I very first, or you found my business card when I was like, brand new in business.
(04:57):
No way.
I didn't know that.
How cool was that? Awesome.
Just was like, I'm just gonna do this thing because I just found this huge gap in those standards and how it was affecting kids' mental health.
And I started being an OT because.
I wanted to do more research into autism and really understand the way the brain works and be able to support children and help them grow up into healthy, thriving adults.
(05:25):
And what I found in the therapy world is there was such a huge gap of okay, here's these standardized assessments that, you want kids to meet these goals and like the getting from point A to point B.
At a huge cost to the child's.
And that, leading to even the professionals not knowing how to work with kids with quote unquote behavioral difficulties, the kids that are bossy or stand up for themselves and don't want to lean into compliance because it doesn't, it's not meaningful for them.
(05:55):
And that's where there's this huge gap.
And so I thought, I'm gonna start, this coaching business that like, I don't think it exists at all.
So here I am, like just going out on a whim that I'm like this.
Education needs to be in schools.
It needs to be to therapists and not saying I am like the end all, be all, have all the answers, but just.
(06:16):
I knew that there could be a better way, a different way than what was happening.
And that kids don't have to change who they are for the betterment of other people.
That they can be who they are and they can still thrive and meet the goals that are meaningful to them in their lives.
Exactly.
And I love how you say thrive, right? I don't believe many of us have ever been taught about anger or emotions.
(06:39):
We are taught that you're not really allowed to have emotion.
You can't be angry as a 2-year-old.
You're not allowed to be mad at five, and you never really weren't taught how to express it or how to manage it really.
And that leads to some problems later on in adulthood I believe that my children have a say and that's a hard conversation to have.
(07:04):
That's why we're having this conversation, right? It's oh, you're disrespectful if you don't follow what the adult says.
Is that necessary? What the adult is requesting? Exactly.
Child have to give you a hug.
Do they have to do things the way that you want them to do exactly what their boundaries are? Yeah.
And then that leads into adulthood.
(07:25):
Do you have to put up with a boss that's really not very nice to you? You really don't.
And.
As much as yes, there is respect, but it doesn't go to the point where one is like dominant and the other person's submissive.
You know what I mean? Like respect goes both ways, right? Yes.
And like how, like if adults can start respecting that boundary Yeah.
(07:45):
Then you have respectful kids.
Yeah.
And that is why we created this podcast.
We wanted to create this space for everyone.
That is what neurodiverse means, every brain And we're gonna bring up a lot of what we just did.
Katie is so smart and has such a great mindset on all of this.
(08:10):
I just love asking her questions.
So I feel like I'm just gonna be the parent that's gonna be bringing all these questions to you.
And maybe you know, anyone else who feels comfortable asking or sending us an email with questions will answer them for you.
'cause I know when my.
Child, was first diagnosed.
There's so much information thrown at you and you don't know what to do with it.
(08:33):
And I have found, the more that I've learned and the more I've advocated for her and even myself, a lot of it isn't going to align with what you want for your family, And I'm big on that.
Like I wanna be someone that if you just received a diagnosis and you're confused.
I wanna be a person that you can reach out to and ask, because I'm not gonna tell you what to do, but I can at least answer a question There's this huge gap, my daughter was in play therapy and I remember asking the play therapist, is there a parent support group? And she said, no, I don't think there's anything like that.
(09:09):
And I'm like, why? I found it really odd that there wasn't a parent support group because I know when I was sitting in these offices that I wasn't the only parent that had questions.
We would all sit there and have these conversations and share stories and it felt nice to have that kind of support.
I was bummed to know, it wasn't available, but, then I started creating that for the parents that were.
(09:36):
In these sessions with me.
So then as I started connecting with these other parents, I did see a bit of a trend.
There was a lot of difficulties in children getting the support that they needed, whether it would be, not the right diagnosis, not as they would say, like they didn't qualify for the support and.
(10:01):
That really broke my heart and was thinking, why do we need a diagnosis to receive any kind of support? Why can't this support just be available for the betterment of our overall mental health, as families and for children.
I wanna dive into that on an episode too, of just it's valid if you.
(10:26):
Relate to everything that encompasses a diagnosis, but you haven't yet gotten that diagnosis, or maybe you were misdiagnosed, let's say, you feel like through and through that you're autistic.
Yeah.
That you have only an ADHD diagnosis, like you are still valid in being autistic.
Yes.
Because that feels aligned with who you are to your core.
(10:49):
And so I think there's something to be said for that too.
Yes, like going and getting the diagnosis is, huge.
But sometimes depending on who you go to, they don't accurately depict everything about who you are.
And so I think there's a big.
powerful ness to that and you being a parent and going through all of the steps, like I'm seeing it from my perspective as ot Sure.
(11:12):
Of all of these parents going through these different steps and knowing, where the gaps on my end.
But you've actually been through that and seen okay, here you go.
And you had a great, it sounds person that did the.
Diagnosing as far as your family goes.
But even, beyond that, like knowing what OT is didn't you bump into someone that was like, Hey, have you ever thought of ot? Yep.
(11:34):
And like otherwise you wouldn't have known about it.
.She
was like, yeah you could see a pediatric OT and they can help you.
There's these things with sensory and I didn't know any of this, and I'm like, holy moly, because you rely on, or I did.
I thought my pediatrician would be noticing these things and picking up on 'em, and no one really listened to me.
It was always.
(11:54):
She grow out of it or she's one, or this is normal.
You know what I mean? It was two days later I called pediatric therapy and got evaluated and sure enough, that's when our journey started Wow.
Yeah.
And that's powerful.
So that's what happens.
Some kids are coming to me after having years of behavioral therapy and I'm working through different levels of anxiety coming from that.
(12:19):
Yeah.
And then some kids are, brand new to the world of ever having therapy before.
For and navigating conversations with parents about potentially going to see someone about getting a, an accurate diagnosis.
And so I see kids at all different stages that parents are navigating.
So that's interesting that you guys had three full years of that before.
(12:40):
And it definitely was.
We could have done it sooner, but I love our ot.
She did an amazing job.
She would sit with me for 30 minutes at a time to explain stuff because I asked so many questions.
And I believe because she was doing such a good job, we didn't seek that diagnosis quite yet.
(13:01):
so yeah.
I am, grateful that I've had a lot of wonderful.
People in our lives to help guide us.
And that's why I say with anyone else, if you're going through this and you don't feel like you're being supported, reach out to us here.
that's what we're here for.
This is what we're gonna be doing.
We're hopefully gonna connect people, support people, support families.
(13:26):
And do you feel like, looking back, is there anything that you.
Would've wished you would've known sooner? Or do you feel like your journey is the journey that.
It was and you have peace with it now oh, I absolutely have peace with it.
because our daughter had OT at such a young age, she really had a lot of support.
(13:49):
So I'm at peace with it, but I do want other families to know.
To just drown out the noise around you.
It was, really hard when you're in the thick of things with your kiddo, and you're trying to do the best that you can with, the resources that you have or that you don't have.
You're learning too.
You don't need to listen about disciplining your child more.
(14:09):
I remember I got that a lot and I never did because I'm like, why? I didn't believe in that.
I'm just here to really advocate that one.
You don't need to please anybody.
You don't need anyone telling you what, and the people who really matter are gonna be the ones that read the book.
You give them the ones that go with you to the appointments and the ones that are there and learning and advocating with you, yeah, absolutely.
(14:34):
Have the people around you that are there to support you, not to criticize you.
we're here to be a safe space and be a place where it's a celebration of neurodiversity and understanding the different ways the brains work and you can listen and learn, but also.
feel supported and have access to resources too.
(14:54):
But each episode we'll dig deeper into, neuro types even too.
And I would love for Katie, for you to educate us and teach us on techniques and things that we can do to help in transitions and things like that I know that were really hard and I had a hard time understanding it as a parent 'cause I didn't get it.
It took me a while to understand really what OT was doing.
(15:18):
It can seem really foreign and especially if you're not expecting it to come across your life, especially the sensory part of it.
I think people know what fine motor skills are.
Yeah.
But that's it, right? Yeah.
And so they think either if that's their experience with ot, then it's, fine motor, we only work with upper body, but really.
I am like the foundational piece of everything.
(15:41):
Everything in our sensory systems and making sure that our nervous system is functioning in a way that helps our body feel its best so we can do those higher level things like make hard decisions, problem solve, task perseverance, and fine motor skills too.
Yes, I know.
I know you are like.
Everything.
(16:01):
Yeah.
When I finally learned about occupational therapy, I just tell everybody that everyone needs to see an occupational therapist at some point in their life, I wish I had, and that's part of my story too, just, I had to have all the tags cut outta my shirts when I was little.
Oh.
And I would not wear dresses with collars or buttons or, all this cutesy stuff that my parents would bring home.
(16:25):
Come on Katie, won't you just wear, no, it was a whole meltdown every single time.
Definitely textures, clothing, bright lights.
I prefer low lighting.
Like my whole sensory system could probably be a whole episode.
But there just wasn't enough information out there.
Or it was written off as oh, she's just sensitive to certain things or, even going into the A DHD piece of, oh, she's just, a little disorganized and procrastinator and there's things that I wish I had an OT for growing up.
(16:55):
Because I feel like there's things that I've obviously, graduated with a master's degree, did enough and I'm sure there's a lot of y'all out there too that feel like you did well enough, you accomplished all the things, but my goodness, if you had known.
And you could have felt more supported and felt less shame maybe about yourself growing up then it would've been a little bit lighter load.
(17:15):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It's just always nice to have that support, make it a little bit easier, life is hard enough as it is, right? Thank you for joining us today.
We hope today's information was informative and helpful to our listeners, if you'd like today's episode, please give us a follow.
Share this episode or subscribe to Neurodiverse Conversations anywhere you listen to your podcast.
I'm Steph, the mother of two neurodivergent children and I am also neurodivergent.
Here's Katie.
She can introduce herself and tell you a bit more about what she does.
Hey y'all.
I'm Katie and I am a neuro affirming pediatric occupational therapist, and I'm so excited to partner with on this podcast so we can share.
(00:26):
All about our backgrounds and everything that makes us who we are and the world that we want to give back to as well.
I'm a mom to two kids and I navigate also uncovering and understanding my own neurodivergence as an adult.
And I found that it's really made me a better mother and also helped shape the way that I practice today.
(00:48):
So I'm excited to dive in.
Today, this is our first podcast and we are introducing ourselves, but also we are going to talk about what we want from this podcast for ourselves and for others.
And so why we connected to do this right.
Yep.
I met Katie when my children were at a acting class, I didn't meet her, but I found her business card.
(01:12):
At the time, I was really struggling to understand exactly what sensory was.
So that's why I was drawn to you, because I had been looking for someone who was teaching sensory integration, sensory profile, those kind of things.
'cause that's something that one of my children was currently seeing OT for.
(01:35):
I had been looking for someone that could guide me and I couldn't find 'em anywhere.
I think then just we started connecting on social media and we would have these conversations back and forth.
And then we just felt, connected and aligned and also just our families being together and realized that we both had these.
(01:55):
Missions that we wanted to give back to the neurodivergent population Yeah.
So we really did connect instantly so good job putting your card where you did, some of those divine timing things or just like those people that you come across, you're like I'm gonna reach out.
And then your whole life changes because of it.
Isn't it crazy? Yeah, absolutely.
That's exactly what this was.
(02:17):
And then, two, we were both homeschooling too.
So we really connected over the homeschooling journey.
Which we can also, talk about that at a later time for anyone who's interested.
But yeah, so the point of us coming together on this was just we wanted to bring awareness to This neurodivergent community, how can we really see children and meet them where they are? And what does that really mean too? What does that really mean to meet them where they are and how can we be connecting with them to have a better relationship? But also for me, the mental health aspect is huge.
(02:59):
Our culture struggles with mental health so much because of a lot of things that happen when you're a kid.
Is this me speculating, first of all, should I not be talking about this? I love this.
Keep going.
Okay and it's nobody's fault.
This is, I'm not saying that it is, it's just years of how you're raised and years of how your parents were raised.
(03:21):
My parents were raised and their grandparents, right? And then every generation adds something different, but we're never really aware of the mental health of it all.
And for especially neurodivergent people.
We really have a hard time because we don't feel like you fit in the first place.
And then you have all these rules that you need to be following that don't fit you and you don't understand it.
(03:48):
I know when I was growing up, I questioned everything because it seems so stupid, and, we just don't take into consideration that children should have a voice.
You want them to be able to say no, because it's healthy for them to learn those boundaries as a young child, so when they grow up, they feel okay to say no and have a boundary and keep their sanity.
(04:12):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of us that grew up as people pleasers because we are sucked into the society of do as you're told and you get rewarded and you just need to be certain way.
There's these certain standards that you have to meet.
And it just made me feel really trapped and I didn't really realize that I could be louder than I was.
(04:35):
Or you're told that you're bossy when you're younger, if stand up for yourself.
And, there could be some gender stereotypes with that too, but also even just realizing I think uncovering my own neurodivergence, but also the reason I created my business in the way that I did.
And we met when I very first, or you found my business card when I was like, brand new in business.
(04:57):
No way.
I didn't know that.
How cool was that? Awesome.
Just was like, I'm just gonna do this thing because I just found this huge gap in those standards and how it was affecting kids' mental health.
And I started being an OT because.
I wanted to do more research into autism and really understand the way the brain works and be able to support children and help them grow up into healthy, thriving adults.
(05:25):
And what I found in the therapy world is there was such a huge gap of okay, here's these standardized assessments that, you want kids to meet these goals and like the getting from point A to point B.
At a huge cost to the child's.
And that, leading to even the professionals not knowing how to work with kids with quote unquote behavioral difficulties, the kids that are bossy or stand up for themselves and don't want to lean into compliance because it doesn't, it's not meaningful for them.
(05:55):
And that's where there's this huge gap.
And so I thought, I'm gonna start, this coaching business that like, I don't think it exists at all.
So here I am, like just going out on a whim that I'm like this.
Education needs to be in schools.
It needs to be to therapists and not saying I am like the end all, be all, have all the answers, but just.
(06:16):
I knew that there could be a better way, a different way than what was happening.
And that kids don't have to change who they are for the betterment of other people.
That they can be who they are and they can still thrive and meet the goals that are meaningful to them in their lives.
Exactly.
And I love how you say thrive, right? I don't believe many of us have ever been taught about anger or emotions.
(06:39):
We are taught that you're not really allowed to have emotion.
You can't be angry as a 2-year-old.
You're not allowed to be mad at five, and you never really weren't taught how to express it or how to manage it really.
And that leads to some problems later on in adulthood I believe that my children have a say and that's a hard conversation to have.
(07:04):
That's why we're having this conversation, right? It's oh, you're disrespectful if you don't follow what the adult says.
Is that necessary? What the adult is requesting? Exactly.
Child have to give you a hug.
Do they have to do things the way that you want them to do exactly what their boundaries are? Yeah.
And then that leads into adulthood.
(07:25):
Do you have to put up with a boss that's really not very nice to you? You really don't.
And.
As much as yes, there is respect, but it doesn't go to the point where one is like dominant and the other person's submissive.
You know what I mean? Like respect goes both ways, right? Yes.
And like how, like if adults can start respecting that boundary Yeah.
(07:45):
Then you have respectful kids.
Yeah.
And that is why we created this podcast.
We wanted to create this space for everyone.
That is what neurodiverse means, every brain And we're gonna bring up a lot of what we just did.
Katie is so smart and has such a great mindset on all of this.
(08:10):
I just love asking her questions.
So I feel like I'm just gonna be the parent that's gonna be bringing all these questions to you.
And maybe you know, anyone else who feels comfortable asking or sending us an email with questions will answer them for you.
'cause I know when my.
Child, was first diagnosed.
There's so much information thrown at you and you don't know what to do with it.
(08:33):
And I have found, the more that I've learned and the more I've advocated for her and even myself, a lot of it isn't going to align with what you want for your family, And I'm big on that.
Like I wanna be someone that if you just received a diagnosis and you're confused.
I wanna be a person that you can reach out to and ask, because I'm not gonna tell you what to do, but I can at least answer a question There's this huge gap, my daughter was in play therapy and I remember asking the play therapist, is there a parent support group? And she said, no, I don't think there's anything like that.
(09:09):
And I'm like, why? I found it really odd that there wasn't a parent support group because I know when I was sitting in these offices that I wasn't the only parent that had questions.
We would all sit there and have these conversations and share stories and it felt nice to have that kind of support.
I was bummed to know, it wasn't available, but, then I started creating that for the parents that were.
(09:36):
In these sessions with me.
So then as I started connecting with these other parents, I did see a bit of a trend.
There was a lot of difficulties in children getting the support that they needed, whether it would be, not the right diagnosis, not as they would say, like they didn't qualify for the support and.
(10:01):
That really broke my heart and was thinking, why do we need a diagnosis to receive any kind of support? Why can't this support just be available for the betterment of our overall mental health, as families and for children.
I wanna dive into that on an episode too, of just it's valid if you.
(10:26):
Relate to everything that encompasses a diagnosis, but you haven't yet gotten that diagnosis, or maybe you were misdiagnosed, let's say, you feel like through and through that you're autistic.
Yeah.
That you have only an ADHD diagnosis, like you are still valid in being autistic.
Yes.
Because that feels aligned with who you are to your core.
(10:49):
And so I think there's something to be said for that too.
Yes, like going and getting the diagnosis is, huge.
But sometimes depending on who you go to, they don't accurately depict everything about who you are.
And so I think there's a big.
powerful ness to that and you being a parent and going through all of the steps, like I'm seeing it from my perspective as ot Sure.
(11:12):
Of all of these parents going through these different steps and knowing, where the gaps on my end.
But you've actually been through that and seen okay, here you go.
And you had a great, it sounds person that did the.
Diagnosing as far as your family goes.
But even, beyond that, like knowing what OT is didn't you bump into someone that was like, Hey, have you ever thought of ot? Yep.
(11:34):
And like otherwise you wouldn't have known about it.
.She
was like, yeah you could see a pediatric OT and they can help you.
There's these things with sensory and I didn't know any of this, and I'm like, holy moly, because you rely on, or I did.
I thought my pediatrician would be noticing these things and picking up on 'em, and no one really listened to me.
It was always.
(11:54):
She grow out of it or she's one, or this is normal.
You know what I mean? It was two days later I called pediatric therapy and got evaluated and sure enough, that's when our journey started Wow.
Yeah.
And that's powerful.
So that's what happens.
Some kids are coming to me after having years of behavioral therapy and I'm working through different levels of anxiety coming from that.
(12:19):
Yeah.
And then some kids are, brand new to the world of ever having therapy before.
For and navigating conversations with parents about potentially going to see someone about getting a, an accurate diagnosis.
And so I see kids at all different stages that parents are navigating.
So that's interesting that you guys had three full years of that before.
(12:40):
And it definitely was.
We could have done it sooner, but I love our ot.
She did an amazing job.
She would sit with me for 30 minutes at a time to explain stuff because I asked so many questions.
And I believe because she was doing such a good job, we didn't seek that diagnosis quite yet.
(13:01):
so yeah.
I am, grateful that I've had a lot of wonderful.
People in our lives to help guide us.
And that's why I say with anyone else, if you're going through this and you don't feel like you're being supported, reach out to us here.
that's what we're here for.
This is what we're gonna be doing.
We're hopefully gonna connect people, support people, support families.
(13:26):
And do you feel like, looking back, is there anything that you.
Would've wished you would've known sooner? Or do you feel like your journey is the journey that.
It was and you have peace with it now oh, I absolutely have peace with it.
because our daughter had OT at such a young age, she really had a lot of support.
(13:49):
So I'm at peace with it, but I do want other families to know.
To just drown out the noise around you.
It was, really hard when you're in the thick of things with your kiddo, and you're trying to do the best that you can with, the resources that you have or that you don't have.
You're learning too.
You don't need to listen about disciplining your child more.
(14:09):
I remember I got that a lot and I never did because I'm like, why? I didn't believe in that.
I'm just here to really advocate that one.
You don't need to please anybody.
You don't need anyone telling you what, and the people who really matter are gonna be the ones that read the book.
You give them the ones that go with you to the appointments and the ones that are there and learning and advocating with you, yeah, absolutely.
(14:34):
Have the people around you that are there to support you, not to criticize you.
we're here to be a safe space and be a place where it's a celebration of neurodiversity and understanding the different ways the brains work and you can listen and learn, but also.
feel supported and have access to resources too.
(14:54):
But each episode we'll dig deeper into, neuro types even too.
And I would love for Katie, for you to educate us and teach us on techniques and things that we can do to help in transitions and things like that I know that were really hard and I had a hard time understanding it as a parent 'cause I didn't get it.
It took me a while to understand really what OT was doing.
(15:18):
It can seem really foreign and especially if you're not expecting it to come across your life, especially the sensory part of it.
I think people know what fine motor skills are.
Yeah.
But that's it, right? Yeah.
And so they think either if that's their experience with ot, then it's, fine motor, we only work with upper body, but really.
I am like the foundational piece of everything.
(15:41):
Everything in our sensory systems and making sure that our nervous system is functioning in a way that helps our body feel its best so we can do those higher level things like make hard decisions, problem solve, task perseverance, and fine motor skills too.
Yes, I know.
I know you are like.
Everything.
(16:01):
Yeah.
When I finally learned about occupational therapy, I just tell everybody that everyone needs to see an occupational therapist at some point in their life, I wish I had, and that's part of my story too, just, I had to have all the tags cut outta my shirts when I was little.
Oh.
And I would not wear dresses with collars or buttons or, all this cutesy stuff that my parents would bring home.
(16:25):
Come on Katie, won't you just wear, no, it was a whole meltdown every single time.
Definitely textures, clothing, bright lights.
I prefer low lighting.
Like my whole sensory system could probably be a whole episode.
But there just wasn't enough information out there.
Or it was written off as oh, she's just sensitive to certain things or, even going into the A DHD piece of, oh, she's just, a little disorganized and procrastinator and there's things that I wish I had an OT for growing up.
(16:55):
Because I feel like there's things that I've obviously, graduated with a master's degree, did enough and I'm sure there's a lot of y'all out there too that feel like you did well enough, you accomplished all the things, but my goodness, if you had known.
And you could have felt more supported and felt less shame maybe about yourself growing up then it would've been a little bit lighter load.
(17:15):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It's just always nice to have that support, make it a little bit easier, life is hard enough as it is, right? Thank you for joining us today.
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