Stopping PT

[Wild Lupine]

DS has received weekly OT and monthly PT for about six months. He is also about to start feeding therapy... assuming we ever get to the top of the waiting list.

He has low muscle tone and a mysterious tongue sensitivity that keeps him from eating anything solid or with texture. Vague, I know, we're waiting for full details to emerge.

Since he has begun therapy he has begun sitting, crawling, pulling up, and cruising. His PT might be about ready to discharge him from PT (but not OT). He is not yet walking and it seems like his core strength is a bit too low for this right now. But his PT says his posture looks good and it is just a matter of time until he walks.

How does one know when a child is ready to stop PT? It seems kinda soon to me, especially since we don't yet know why he is low tone and he isn't making any progress with feeding despite all the help he gets. But then, I'd love to have one fewer appointment to go to and so would DD, who is at each appointment and gets very bored despite all the sticker books I provide for her.

[KatWrangler]

Who wrote the prescription for the PT? I would contact them with your concerns.

[ollyoxenfree]

I would discuss discharge planning with the PT. If the visits have only been monthly, then it's likely that they have been mostly monitoring his development, and relying mainly on the weekly OT and home exercise programs for progress with gross motor development.

I would ask for a little more guidance on when the PT would expect to see him walking independently. I'd also ask for a progression of exercises to work on his low tone and core muscle strengthening at home. Has the PT provided you with ideas for exercise balls or pool/swimming or other things to keep his exercises fun and interesting for him?

Rather than a complete discharge, you could request a re-check in 3 months, and again in 6 months. This may avoid having to go through the referral/waiting list process if you find he doesn't progress to walking and he needs more intensive PT later on.

In some jurisdictions, there is a huge waiting list for PT, and they are often under some pressure to discharge early. OTOH, the PT may see that he is progressing very well, and any lingering motor issues will be addressed by the weekly OT.

[Wild Lupine]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

I would discuss discharge planning with the PT. If the visits have only been monthly, then it's likely that they have been mostly monitoring his development, and relying mainly on the weekly OT and home exercise programs for progress with gross motor development.

I would ask for a little more guidance on when the PT would expect to see him walking independently. I'd also ask for a progression of exercises to work on his low tone and core muscle strengthening at home. Has the PT provided you with ideas for exercise balls or pool/swimming or other things to keep his exercises fun and interesting for him?

Rather than a complete discharge, you could request a re-check in 3 months, and again in 6 months. This may avoid having to go through the referral/waiting list process if you find he doesn't progress to walking and he needs more intensive PT later on.

In some jurisdictions, there is a huge waiting list for PT, and they are often under some pressure to discharge early. OTOH, the PT may see that he is progressing very well, and any lingering motor issues will be addressed by the weekly OT.

This all makes a lot of sense. His OT is his care coordinator and she is excellent (as is his PT). It was his OT who mentioned the PT thinking about discontinuing the monthly visits. Both have given him plenty of exercises to do. Both work through the same EI agency, and he's definitely not being discharged from that, so if he needed PT again we wouldn't have to go through the whole process from the beginning.

I guess as long as his OT visits continue I feel comfortable discontinuing the PT visits for now at least.

[marieangela]

Dd turned a year old a couple of weeks ago. At this point she is doing everything that your ds is doing - sitting, crawling, pulling up and cruising, but not yet walking. Our PT comes every other week (with a development therapist coming on alternating weeks) and I have never really considered ending the PT. Our therapists come to our house, though. Ds1 is at school when they come, but ds2(4 y.o.) is home. He generallly plays in the playroom while they are there, but sometimes hangs around and tries to get attention. I want to continue with the therapy and keep on top of everything regardless of how well dd is doing because I never know when something might come up that I would never have noticed on my own. Perhaps you could just make your PT appointments every two weeks or once a month?