Can't afford PT/OT - Page 2

[LaughingHyena]

I'm no expert so I hope some of this might be useful or spark ideas for you. My brother has mild CP and was much more cooperative with me than mum at doing his physio.

He loved making footprints along a length of wall paper. We concentrated on making whole feet (he walked on his toes) and nice even prints.

We used to set up obstacle courses for him, indoors we would use sheets of newspaper as stepping stones. Cushions were to squashy for him to balance on. Blankets draped over chairs to crawl under.

Outdoors we had cones which he had to run in and out of, slalem style. We kicked footballs at a cardboard box on it's side.

He also really liked riding a bike but needed toe clips on his weaker side. I seem to remember using velcro cable tie type things to hold his foot on till he was big enough for the toe clips to work. We also used to have a rope to tie on the front of his bike to pull him home once he was old enough that people started making comments about him using the pushchair still.

[NiteNicole]

Thanks, everyone, for all the ideas and contact info.

All we can find about Katie Beckett in Mississippi is something about "Requires a level of care at home that is typically provided in a hospital or nursing facility."

Healthcare in this country is a joke.

[mrsfru]

Healthcare in this country is a joke.

Yeah, you aren't kidding!!! We have insurance for dh and I, and it costs us over $500/month just for the two of us. That's 25% of our income right now, plus the co-pays and 20% we pay for procedures and the usually $35-50 "tier" that my meds are on puts our regular medical care at close to 50% of our income! And that doesn't even cover our kids!!! DS1's medical care this year has probably cost double that, if I don't include my upper and lower GI, and he hasn't even had any "major" issues. I don't get people who don't think we need *some* sort of reform in our system for health care!

Back to your dd...

Someone on here posted a link to a website called Therapro. There a lot of therapy products on there that you might find useful. Also, surely there must be a professional organization for PTs and/or OT's that you may be able to find reliable info from. Did the PT and OT eval give you *any* useful info at all? I also thought of our Bilibo toy last night--they run about $30. Our kids really like it--it's basically like a big, sturdy plastic bucket/bowl. They use it to pretend they are turtles and crawl under it, stand on top of it (great for balance/core strength), and sit in it and spin (also good for core strength). A sit and spin toy can also help w/strength. Tunnels from the toystore are great for crawling through and collapse easily for storage.

GL!

mrsfru

[NiteNicole]

We actually really liked both the PT and OT we saw and they both sent us home with ideas for things we could be doing to help while we tried to work something out with our insurance. They seemed like really nice people who are very passionate about their jobs and respectful of children. The problem is the environment was just wild, everything was out of place, no one could find anything, and there were a TON of kids in one big open room with mostly aids assigned to kids and only one PT and OT there at a time - and parents were encouraged to wait in the waiting room. Most of our eval time was spent looking for things, helping other people look for things, etc.

They told us to have her do things like squeeze play doh, kneed bread, wring out wet towels for hand strength. We do those. The PT said to have her go up and down stairs and do things that would work on balance and we're doing that. Her stamina is pretty low so we're trying short walks and bike rides.

She has been very wobbly the past two days - I am hoping it's just because she was SO active on Friday morning (we had snow, which is rare here so she was out in it all morning, and rolling up snow for snowmen. I know I was tired. And then Saturday we had beautiful weather so we played kick croquet, bounced on a hippity hop, did a bike ride, etc. Again, I sure was worn out!).

[RiverTam]

Would she be interested in ballet or yoga?

http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Kids-B.../dp/B00008QSAZ

http://www.amazon.com/Tinkerbells-Le...d_bxgy_d_img_b

http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Families-...6257876&sr=1-1

Could she ride a bike? Maybe with training wheels?

Would she like some running games?
http://www.kidsrunning.com/krschoolgames.html

Would she like karate?
http://www.amazon.com/Karate-Kids-Ar...6258064&sr=1-2

[NiteNicole]

She does ride her bike. She can not run, at all. She can't really even walk fast right now. For the past two days she's been very wobbly. She sometimes falls and the limp on the right foot is much more pronounced than it had been recently.

I am very interested in taking her to yoga. There is one yoga studio about half an hour from us that does not seem to have any classes for children, but they will do private instruction for individuals or small groups. I'm playing phone tag now trying to see if I can set something up. It's something like $37 for an hour once a week, which seems really really cheap? Especially as I could even find someone to split it with.

I will check into the dance dvds. She may be able to do some of that. Thank you.

[RiverTam]

Originally Posted by NiteNicole

Thank you.

You're very welcome. We went through a similar problem with private school/public school last year and it was really frustrating. We're paying for private speech therapy. My husband lost his job in October and I was terrified that school and/or therapy were going to have to go. I don't know what we would do if my son had to move from his Montessori classroom to a public school classroom. Luckily, my husband found a job in December, so we're getting back on track and digging out from under the bills.

Do you have a YMCA near you? Our Y does swimming classes for 3-5 years that are $37 for a 7 week session. Learning to swim would strengthen her core and her legs. It would also probably be fun and not too frustrating because it also takes a lot of upper body strength and she could "lean" on her upper body strength when her legs get tired. I was a competitive swimmer from age 8 - 18 and (back in the day) we had lots of kids who joined our team because they had PT issues and their pediatricians recommended it.

[NiteNicole]

We don't have a Y anywhere near. There is one about a little over an hour away (well, two, in opposite directions). Those are the kinds of things we're looking for when we talk about moving...good public schools, a Y, parks, walking trails, etc.

She will be able to take swimming lessons in the summer (it's two weeks, going every day, and I may try to get her in multiple sessions if possible). At least when I can find something, it's going to be cheap. My cousin has her two in with someone they really like and I forget exactly what it cost, but it was truly very inexpensive - less than $100 for a few hours of instruction per day for two weeks. Granted, it's not going to be the best swimming lessons anyone ever had, but it's something and I can afford it!

[wytchywoman]

According to IDEA 2004 ( The federal act which governs the distribution and implementation of special education services)
A child with a disability is defined as :
(B) Child aged 3 through 9.--The term `child with a disability' for a child aged 3 through 9 (or any subset of that age range, including ages 3 through 5), may, at the discretion of the State and the local educational agency, include a child--

(i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in 1 or more of the following areas: physical development; cognitive development; communication development; social or emotional development; or adaptive development; and

(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.


Your daughter would qualify under physical development and adaptive development due to her mobility issues. I would strongly urge you to really push the school district on this one. Start asking for supervisors names and department heads when you meet resistance. They are violating federal law by not even assessing her when you've told them that she has gross motor delays.
Also here is some contact info for advocacy agencies in Mississippi. not sure if it is by you or not, but if it isn't maybe they could refer you to someone in your area.

The Arc/Mississippi Association for the Rights of Citizens with Developmental Disabilities
7 Lakeland Circle, Suite 600
Jackson, MS 39202
[phone]; [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Web: www.arcms.org

The Arc of Lowndes County
Norma Jones or Leslie Junkin
P.O. Box 5387
Columbus, MS 39704
[phone] or [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
A volunteer organization made up of parents and professionals dedicated to supporting (IEP's, IDEA), educating, and empowering individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

Client Assistance Program
Mississippi Society for Disabilities
3226 N. State Street
Jackson, MS 39216
[phone]
Web: http://www.mississippicap.com/Missis...sabilities.htm

Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities
615 Barksdale Street
Jackson, MS 39202
[phone]; [phone] (fax); (800) -748-9420 (V/TTY)
Email: [e-mail]
Web: www.mscoalition.com

EMPOWER Community Resource Center
Agnes Johnson
P.O. Box 1733
Greenville, MS 38702-1733
[phone]; [phone]; [phone] (fax)
Email: [e-mail]
Educational rights-community based non-profit organization which plays an important role in the evolution of standards-based school reform and the potential for improving the quality of education for children in the Delta area of Mississippi.

I got all of these from a website for Wrightslaw. Here's the link:

http://www.yellowpagesforkids.com/help/ms.htm

[NiteNicole]

Thank you.

It's so hard to even know where to start.

[wytchywoman]

Call the agency closest to you and see if you can get an advocate to walk you through this process. That's what they're there for.

[Aridel]

Originally Posted by wytchywoman

Call the agency closest to you and see if you can get an advocate to walk you through this process. That's what they're there for.

Also, put your request in writing, outlining her issues and what you want assessed. Keep a copy and submit one to the school, documenting when it was sent/received. This may be helpful later on, since they are mandated to test within 30 school days of a parent request.

I would also write in your request that you believe she will not be able to 'access the curriculum' due to her disability. They are right that school doesn't need to treat everything, but walking without falling is definitely necessary to function in a school environment!