Occupational Therapy

When my twins turned 18 months old and still were not talking, I became worried. I called Tri-counties and had them evaluated. Turns out they were a lot further behind then I thought. So they started one hour EACH of Occupational therapy a week and one hour EACH of Early intervention and Monthly speech monitoring (which actually just started).
This is 4 times a week my daughters were seeing the therapists and I notice they both do exactly the same thing, while one is called an Occupational Therapist, and the other is Early intervention, they both do exactly the same ting with my girls.
Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the help and the advice these 2 ladies have given me, but I now do what they do with them everyday. I sit on a blanket with them and we have 'scheduled play time' where they have to play my way and follow directions. It has become a pain to make sure we are always available for all 4 appointments every week. They have such a busy schedule with their other clients that I had to cut into my girls nap time in order for the therapists to see them. Plus they never come at the same times on all 4 days they come. But want me to develop a decent schedule for my girls. How am I suppose to do this when on Monday one comes at 10am tuesday 2 pm, wednesday 9am and thursday 3:30pm?
And we are suppose to give 24 hours notice if we need to cancel an appt. Sometimes things come up that are beyond my control and I don't have 24 hours notice to give! This past week I had to take my van in to toyota so they could fix a recalled part. It took longer then I thought and they ended up having to keep my van. So I had to wait for them to get me a rental car big enough. I had to cancel their session for that day, because I was stuck car less waiting for another car, obviously I did not know this would happen. Then the next day I got a call my van was ready, so I went to get it, turned the rental car in, went to get my van, and oops they messed up its not ready....Grrr So I had to reinstall my car seats in the rental car and wait for more paperwork. Again Obviously didn't see this coming...So I had to cancel that days session too. (the OT and EI are mother and daughter) I received 2 voice mails from both these ladies stating I had to give 24 hours notice before canceling a session, and blah, blah, overall, I felt they were a little rude without even asking what had come up that I had to cancel my sessions. @ weeks before that I had to cancel 2 sessions because all 3 kids were sick. Again obviously beyond my control....
Anywho
I feel that essentially all these ladies do Is play with my children 'their way' and I now do That everyday, and while I am grateful for their help and guidance, I feel I no longer need their services, and frankly on some issues its like they expect my 22 month old twins to act like they're 5 years old. I feel as parents in the new age of technology we sometimes forget to let our kids be kids and we push them too hard. My girls are happy, such happy girls. And they're good girls. They've progressed and grown alot these last couple months, and the fears I had before we started OT and EI are not there anymore.
Am I wrong to stop their therapy and just let them be kids? (I do continue to do our special playtime everyday, cause I do believe its good for them)

 

Have you thought about picking one or the other? If they are doing the same things in both types of therapy I agree that 4 hours a week is ALOT of therapy. I am not sure that I would cut it out all together, but I would probably get rid of one of them. I would decide which therapist the girls enjoyed more and seemed more receptive with or pick the one that fits best with you scedule and stick with her for a lil while longer. I would just be scared that I would be doing a disservice to my kids, as in seeing a regression when they had been doing so well.

My girls are in speech therapy twice a week and I would not get rid of it for the world. Yes, she just "plays" with them, but she is able to get them to do and say things that I am just not. I also enjoy their therapy time. It is fun for me to get to interact with another adult and ask questions, plus it is great to see my girls interact with her. They love "Miss Linda" and get so excited when she is here. I am actually dreading the day that she tells me that they are done and she doesn't have to come anymore.

I am sorry that you are having a tough time with the therapists. I hope it all works for you and your girls.

 

4 hrs a week is ridiculous. I would keep one or the other as the PP suggested if you think that it's helping, but I wouldn't keep both. I am glad your girls got help, and it's also great that you have some tools to keep advancing their development.

Also, I know that a 24 hr cancellation policy is pretty standard, but honestly, when you're working with kids there has to be some flexibility!

 

They are currently seeing a speech therapist every other week for an hour (this just started, they've only had 2 sessions) And she plays with them in the same way the OT and EI do,but with more language and signing, so That is another reason I am considering discontinuing the other 2 therapists. The speech is really what I am concerned with and would like to put more focus on. After they turn two the 'once every other week' is suppose to turn into an hour a week for each child, and I think that will provide all the therapy and help we need. I know it's not just 'playing' its therapy through play, but I feel confident that I can provide that kind of help for my children, its the speech I need help with.

 

I see both sides of it. I'm a Speech Therapist and I have worked in EI. I usually only saw kids in that age group once or twice a week for 45-60 minutes. Same thing with the OT and PT I worked with. We had a EI coordinator that did visits, but didn't do therapy and would just check in and check on the child's progress, run meetings, etc. If you are not happy with what the therapists are doing, then speak up. Maybe they can coordinate better or plan different activites focusing on different things. Or you could decide to just use one of them. I can tell you that at that age, a lot of what the therapists do overlap and although it may look like they are doing the same thing, they is a focus and reason behind what they are doing that is specific to that particular therapist. 1/2 of the job should be education with the parents though and teaching them ways to do a lot of these things at home b/c honestly you are the ones with them 24/7...you will be their main therapist. 4 hours out of 168 hours a week doesn't do much for some kids, but does wonders for other. It may seem like a lot, but maybe they are seeing things they feel they need a lot of work on. I'm sure they'd be open to discussing it if you asked and agreeable to changing things a bit if you'd like. It is common to ask for 24 hrs. notice if you need to cancel, but most are understanding if something comes up. It's just when it happens a lot that it becomes an issue. It's very hard to plan your day around 40-60 kids and home visits and when something changes, it can make it difficult. Like I said, if it's an occasional thing and not last minute all the time, no big deal. Nobody wants to be enroute somewhere or have loaded all their stuff up only to have an appt. cancelled (us Mom's included). I'd be irritated with the different times at the different days. That does make it difficult to schedule the kids and anything else you might need to plan/fit it.

 

Have you seen the goals the OT and Early intervention teacher have made for each child? I would defintiely keep the speech and see if you can streamline the others if there are not true OT needs (usually focuses more on fine motor skills, hand skills, oral motor - but not articulation).

 

I completely understand where you are coming from. I started to feel like I had a different therapist in my house every day of the week. And then they would ask me questions about how the boys do outside the house...I stared at them. When do I have time to take them out of the house??? Each one of my boys has different problems so they have different therapies. I have had the time reduced because I was going crazy. But one sees a PT, OT and Speech and the other has OT, Speech and a Special Instructor. Their OT's are different. Their speech therapist is the same. It is exhausting trying to plan meals and naps around the schedule. But going out of the house is really difficult some days. I keep thinking it will get better but the best I have gotten so far is to reduce the weekly therapies to every other week to give me some relief. Talk to your EI coordinator. I told them it was just too much for me. I also asked the therapists if there was a way to do some of the hours at 4:00 when my husband gets home from work so that he can do them instead of me.

I do feel that sometimes we do the same things over and over again with different therapists but I ask lots of questions so I am sure I know WHY we are doing them over and over. My boys are 19 months and everything they do is intermingled with their play. Social activities help with language and fine motor, sensory processing...you name it. I always ask at the end of the session (If they don't tell me) if there is something specific they would like me to work on for the following session. One OT is great at giving me one specific thing which helps me alot.

Good luck.

 

I talked to our service coordinator yesterday and we decided it was alot of therapy! So we canceled OT and kept Early intervention and we're going to try to get them speech therapy once a week instead of every other week, because we need alot of help in that department. My girls will be 2 in April and still don't even say Mama I know it will come when they're ready.... But I'm ready! Lol....
I like EI because she helps me get out with my girls. We're trying to teach them to listen and all that so I can get out with the girls more on my own and be more confident doing it.
I think cutting back on therapy a little will help the feeling of being so overwhelmed, but my girls will still get the help they need.
Thanks all for your advice and input!!
So glad to have this website!!

 

I can totally relate to this feeling — juggling therapies, naps, and life surprises is exhausting. I went through something similar when my twins were little. It’s great that you’re already practicing what they teach; that shows real dedication. Sometimes, once progress starts showing, parents become the best therapists their kids could have. I’d say trust your gut — if you feel your girls are thriving, it’s okay to take a break and just enjoy them being kids. When I needed reassurance, I once called the BetterHelp customer service number to ask about parenting stress tips, and their perspective really helped me breathe again.

 

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