Hunter is 11 monthes old and receives PT once a week which we have to pay for. He is not sitting yet and he fights sitting constantly. After about 5 min of pt he is so upset that he is fussing the rest of the session. I'm not sure what to do. His therapist pushes him till he is upset and won't do anything else. Is this normal or should she switch activities before this point?

Thanks
Dena and Hunter

Dena, Abigail does not like pt all the time. when her therepist does things that take her out of what she like she becomes very unhappy. We work on that on thing, what ever it may be for about 10 minutes and then move on to something else. In the beginning it was hard for me to see her upset, but the work has benefitted her in the long run. My Abigail has her own idea of what she wants to do. We have found that she can do more than we realize when we push her a little past what she likes. My brother one day was watching her get from sitting to crawling and was very concerned with me because I allow her to struggle to get her leg out from underneath herself to crawl. He ask if I was going to help her. I told him no because she has to realize that she can do things and problem solve to get to where she wants to go on her own. I then told him that this is why she is my daughter and not his...because he would always help and not let her experience things that may seem hard. My Daughter is only 21 monthes, but she has become very strong willed. Keep with the pt, but maybe you can talk with the therapist about you concern. I have worked with our pt since Abigail was 4 monthes old. I can't imagine life without her.

Why do you ahve to pay for that service? Our's is paid for through the county.

Nancy

I think some countries do not provide free therapies. I paid for mine too. Likewise, I still need to pay when my son get admitted to the school. Guess there's no free lunch.

Hi Dena

In my opinion your PT is going to far. Your talking about a baby here. 11 months and then pushing him beyond his ability?? Strange way of learning kids something. In my experience with kids I always learned that anything you do, especially with little ones, must have an positive impact. If theres a negative impact it will backfire and your child will keep hating PT the rest of his live.
Is it so hard to let our children learn things in their own pace.

By the way, in my country the PT gets paid by the health care.

Rob

I think that Summer's Dad has a point. To add my two cents' worth, I feel a need to balance my perceptions about where my daughter 'is' against the knowledge of the particular professional dealing with her. Emma was fortunate to have what is called "infant stimulation", a weekly visit by a person (paid for by the state) with the knowledge to do physical-type therapy aimed at a baby. This started at about 2 months and went until she was 18 mos. This was as helpful for us as it was for Emma, it helped our mindset to recognize how she was developing, and some definite strategies/methods that we could use with her that we took for granted with our older son. One of the indicators that moved us from this to true physical and occupational(fine-motor) therapies was the fact that Emma started to be uncooperative with the infant-stim lady. In the last several months, there have been few times when you could work with her for an entire 45 min. to an hour session - she's just a little kid! We are currently in a hiatus from therapy for reasons that don't really matter here, but I'll add this point. The physical therapist has been doing her darndest to make Emma crawl before she walks - to follow a normal developmental pattern. Emma puts her hands down, kicks her leg under, and half-turns her butt in the air to get around. Aside from leaving really interesting patterns in the sand, she gets around rather nicely. She is now pulling up and cruising furniture some. I don't care if she crawls or not - do you get my point? The therapy is great, it helps a lot, but I realized a long time ago that she is going to develop to here level, at her pace, to her goals. I, of course will do everything I can to do her best, but it's her best, not mine or some well-meaning other.
I would certainly hope that you can find funding for your son's therapy - so far ours has been paid for by health insurance, but there is state aid available should that run out.
Another rant. Sorry.
Jeff G

I live in Florida and there is a program that acts as a payor of last resort called the Part C program. Your child is entitled to a free "education". Part C runs till the age of 3. If you have a private insurance, for instance, that will only pay for part of the price of a therapy session, Part C pays the rest. I don't belive that this is a state thing. It is a government thing that is stated in the Disability act. I would talk to your local chapter of The ARC or maybe the Easter Seals if you are in the US. When I brought Julian in for his initial evaluation they said he was eligible for Part C and I just signed a paper. If this is definitely a goverment program then NO ONE with a child under three should be paying for the child's therapies. After the age of 3 I believe you must pay for it yourself. Julian is on Medicaid and they pay for EVERYTHING. So right now Part C is paying for none of his therapies. But I am trying to get Julian on a group insurance plan...part C will be paying then.

I'd check this out.

Samantha
Mommy of Julian 11 months (DS)

Actually after age 3 your local school district must pay for services through the IEP. Since your son is still young you should have an IFSP which provides for services. You should contact your local chapter of ARC or NDSS. This site will give you a list of NDSS associated chapters in your state:

http://www.ndss.org/membership/affiliates/affiliates.html

Development of the IFSP

The IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) is required under IDEA, Part C, P.L.105-17. This law states that children from birth to three years of age, with disabilities can receive services that will benefit them. Children and their families are entitled to an IFSP. The IFSP explains the services that the parents and the child will receive.

The IFSP must include the child's' cognitive, physical, social-emotional and communication development. It must include the priorities and concerns the parents have for their child. There should be a statement of what is expected to be achieved for the child. The IFSP must list services that are needed to meet the child's needs and the environment of where the services will start and how long the services will last. The IFSP must include a detailed statement about the child's transition period.

Development of the IEP

According to Part B of IDEA, students starting at the age of three and ending at the age of twenty-one are entitled to federal funded programs. At these ages, the students are put on IEP's (Individualized Education Plan), which will address all the needs of the child. The IEP must be written at the very least once a year and more can be written if necessary. An IEP team must develop the students IEP that will best benefit the student.

The IEP must include the students present level of performance, goals and short term objectives, and special education and related services that the student will need. There must be an explanation as to what extent the student will participate with his/her nondisabled peers. There should be a statement of the modifications that are needed when taking statewide or district wide assessments. There should also be a date to when all the services will go into affect. When the student turns fourteen, a transition statement should also be included. Progress will be noted on the progress of reaching the goals and objectives.

[Edited by Tom on 05-01-2001 at 12:01 AM]

I must say I really envy u guys in US. It seems like education and medical are either free and covered by insurance.

Over here, I must pay for his education, therapy, medical bills and till today, I had yet to find an insurance company that is willing to cover my son.

My husband had discussed with the school and they will kind of give us a discount for transportation and therapies, but for school fees, I don't think so.

We are sending Vinson to a government school cos private ones charged very high fees (S$16,000 per year = US$30,000).

Well, maybe it's about time that we went to our MP and see whether he can help us.

I think it's time you moved to the states! Having to pay that much for the schooling of your child is ridiculous. Thankfully in the states our kids are given a lot for free. But the way prices are in the states..if we weren't given it for free people wouldn't be able to get these services for their children at all.



Samantha
Mommy of Julian 11 months (DS)

I must wait till I had saved 10 times that amount b4 I'm prepared to move!!!! By then, maybe my son is all grown up!!!LOL Thanks.

Thank you all for posting. Although my post got a little off of the main subject of how much should the therapist push my son. I'm feeling better about this now, this week he did have a good session.

About paying, I also live in FL and part c does pay for ot, speech and EI, but because I have insurance that covers pt part c does not pay. So I have to pay my deductible ($500) and then my 20%. With how expensive pt is, the bill is ever increaseing. Hunter also does not qualify for medicare.

Once again, thank you all. This is a great site!

Dena and Hunter