The myriad of therapies my little guy needs is overwhelming.
Insurance won’t cover any of them. The School district wouldn’t qualify him for any services. Oh, they recognized he needed them (badly), but told me he missed qualifying by ½ point—that’s HALF a point—as a preschooler. Then he didn’t qualify when he turned 5 because he was born on the cut-off date for school and chose to hold him one more year; something they encourage of children that have birthdays near the cut-off date. To qualify, I’d have to send him to kindergarten, but they (and () didn’t want to because he wasn’t anywhere near ready. So, if I chose to home him, they wouldn’t help him, and they were encouraging me to hold him because he was so far behind he would sink.
My budget can only go so far. What therapies do I choose? Which are the most important? Even if I can afford them all, there isn’t enough time to do them all as fully as I should to get the most from them.
To a certain extent, the choice is made for me because there are not enough professionals out there; therapy slots have long wait lists that don’t see a lot of movement. But for what is available, how do I choose? Which ones make the biggest impact? And do I flip around or do I stick it out to the end?
So far, I’ve gone mainly with speech therapy. I figure if we couldn’t understand each other, we wouldn’t get much of anywhere. Language is coming along beautifully, although he isn’t where a five year old should be. I didn’t realize how much it had hurt that my sweet little boy didn’t say “mommy” until he finally did at 3 ½.
I’ve also put time into social therapy. I’m terrified he won’t have friends. He wants them. He wants to have and go to birthday parties and play dates. H does have two perfectly typical older brothers, who are actually quite popular. I’m not sure this one has helped him though.
The schools OT works with him a little during a free slot she has, off-the-record, as a favor to me. That all-important volunteering pays off a little. But that time is limited and incomplete.
Right now, I’m more worried about the SPD. Those issues can prevent him from being successful at school, both academically and socially.
What therapies do you do? How did you decide what was best? Is that working for you?
I feel for you!!!!! Our school doesn't do OT as a stand alone service. Our former insurance paid for 20 visits a year. We got our 20th visit 2 days before the insurance ended-my husband lost his job. We went for nearly 4 months without an therapy. Then my mother-in-law stepped up and said she would pay for it. Thank goodness as we didn't have the money for it. I am a SAHM and my husband wasn't able to find a full-time teaching position.
ReplyDeleteMy son is near the cut-off as well, 6 weeks before and is doing okay, but his teacher is afraid that he won't be as successful is a full day classroom next year.
Know that even with 1 hour a week with an OT, there is so much more they need. There is no much you can do at home with your son to help him! I no longer have a dining room and instead sport a 48 inch trampoline, sit and spin, and collapsible tunnel. We also have a bean box, and a disc-o-sit. If we had the space and the money I would look for a swing ;) If nothing else, they can play on the playground when it gets warm.