Katelyn needs PT...(updated)DS gets pt once a week has helped greatly! Get all that you can get. Your absolutely right, advocate and take not for take any answer that doesn;t seem right that awsome becudse i could have benfited from pt as a child but they didnt no from it .as i had some of those proublems an my gate is still a litte off when i walk even now .i couldnt pick my feet up when litte to walk it was never coreted so proybly why i still drag my feet sometimes .i say what ever they want to give her take .kiods are so luvcky who have autism now becuse of all the severes they get early on an more aweanees an iot don in the school my mom had to drive me every were for therhysWe have been having similar battles, even though Will is still less than 24 mo. The state keeps saying that one hour of therapy per week is plenty, since he seems to be getting better all the time. Meanwhile, we are running through our savings to pay for all the therapy that he actually does need. The me, the critical concept is that education should be "appropriate". That means the education should help fix the deficits, and not just measure them. If six months goes by with no progress on a particular deficit, that means to me that the IEP was not appropriate. Be sure to take good notes at the IEP meeting, and make sure that they include the deficits in their notes. I am getting fed up with schools, insurance companies, and state therapists telling us that nothing is wrong. Be aware that they will be looking at the educational effect of those problems. So, don't be disappointed if they don't take care of all her issues as far as PT goes. If it doesn't affect her educational success, it doesn't have to be addressed by the schools. Our sons both have hypotonia (weak muscle tone), loose joints due to it, intoeing (my older son) hip issues (both kiddos), and W sit (older W sits, younger only W sits with one leg). We are working very hard with their PT, OT, and sensory therapist. We are also seeking the help of an ortho. We saw Shriner's doctors and were 100% blown off. The doctor saw him about 30 seconds (no kidding) before he said, "he will grow out of it, thanks" and walked out. They took no x-rays of the offending hip, didn't mess with his legs at all, test his hypotonia to determine it's severity, nothing. So,needless to say, we are seeking a second opinion. One thing I have noticed, and our PT confirmed it, is if you can walk, many ortho's (and other doctors) blow you off since you aren't as bad as other kids. Well, yeah, they can walk but that's not the only criteria for a healthy body. You might even ask your PT, after she's worked with your daughter for a bit, to write down her observations and opinions on what she sees, then take THAT to the ortho. That's what we are doing. I would request it, as it sounds like she needs it. Good for her teacher forpicking up on this, but shame on the others who let it slide for so long. Good luck! Harriet Hi, Katelyn's preschool did a PT eval and I have an IEP meeting on Monday to discuss the results. They sent me the eval report yesterday and it states that she needs PT because of the following: delays in her gross motor foundation skills delays in her postural strength, lower extremity strength, balance and bilateral coordination delays in her protective responses as well as motor planning skills It also mentioned in detail about how she toe walks, has hypotonia (low muscle tone), cannot stand on 1 leg, has bilateral internal rotation of her hips and feet, etc. What bothers me is that I have been trying to get her PT services since she turned 2 through EI, etc., but EI always said she was fine and didn't need it. The doc who dx her with autism even stated that she had low muscle tone, but her pedi at the time said it wasn't true. We even took Katelyn at age 2 to an orthopedic specialist (before we knew of her autism) because of intoeing and toe walking, which causes her to trip and fall a lot. The ortho said she would outgrow it by age 5 and it was "normal." At her preschool IEP meeting, I had mentioned to the preschool coordinator that I would like a PT eval and she said that she didn't think Katelyn would benefit from PT and that all they would do is refer her to a specialist  Well, it appears that her teacher (whom I love!!!) recommended this PT eval and they did it, thank God. I am pleased that they will offer her services now (not sure what, IEP mtg Monday), but at the same time, I'm really upset that no one else thought this was an issue and all of this time went by (she is almost 3.5) where her little body has been growing and developing incorrectly and she could/should have had help sooner. We suspected something was wrong with her gait from the time she was a year...she didn't walk until 16 months and she has never been really steady on her feet.So, I was wondering what I should request at the IEP mtg? She already gets OT and speech, as well as ABA. I want her to get as much as possible because it has taken this long for someone to actually see what we've been seeing all along. Thanks for your help! PT is a lot of fun! Who wouldn't love balance beams, jumping, balls and other fun stuff. I'm sick of professionals missing stuff, but great job to you and that teacher getting her the help she obviously needs. The goal I wrote for the kids is "William will improve his muscle tone and body awareness so that he can participate in full physical activity without limitations" Feel free to steal it, it is completely educational. We fought the school for PT for our son. I ended up doing it privately at a local hospital and they were great. I also concentrated at home on more activities to help him- balance beam, playing catch. I enrolled him in swim lessons and therapeutic horseback riding- both helped alot. He has made such progress that he was discharged by our private pt at the end of summer. We will continue to do annual pt evaluations with her to make sure he doesnt fall behind again. I hope you are able to get great pt services at school, it just wasnt going to happen in my district. Our pt is weak, at best. Thanks, mbmom and jimmysmommy.
Thank you, everyone.Jimmysmommy, do you think 30 min a week is enough? That is what I'm worried about...it doesn't seem like enough when you think of all of the delays she has, and how they have been ignored for all these years The school has also only given us 30 min./week PT (+30 min./week OT). My dd was around Katelyn's age when she started, and their delays sound similar. I felt like this was not long enough nor intensive enough (school PT is often in groups). Thus we have done private PT also. The private has been 1 hour / week and one-on-one. Private + school PT has worked well for us. Over the last 1-2 years we have faded out private. Now just have school OT/PT. Whether with the school or private, it sounds like Katelyn would benefit from more than 30 min./week. _________________________ mom to 10 year old boy/girl twins (Asperger's/PDD-NOS) Boohbah, I sometimes wonder if it is enough and on our meeting this coming Monday I am going to see if they will increase it to twice a week. The therapists at the school are really good at honestly letting us know how he is doing and we have a good relationship with them. I feel like if we ask them if he needs more they will give us an honest answer (at least I hope I am not misjudging the relationship we have with them). They have been helpful with letting us know what we can do with him at home too. Jimmy likes to be active so it is easy to get him to work on the different things. We have noticed improvements and that is always good. Do I think he will be an athlete someday - probably not. My DS receives 30 mins 1x a week PT throug his IEP. They did an eval on him last year and pretty much he has the same issues as Katelyn. He is in a public preschool and it is part of the education curriculum. Hopefully they will be able to offer you something. We have an IEP meeting on Monday too. Good luck with yoursThanks, Sholow. It is so frustrating, but I'm relieved that someone finally took me seriously and is willing to give Katelyn the help that she needs. I'm glad your son is improving! That sucks that its taken so long for anyone to take you seriously i so know how you feel! Its great that this school sounds like they are stepping up to the plate! My son didnt qualify for PT but is getting OT thru the school and his therapist is doing alot of PT exercises too which are helping but he does still trip some days more then others. I am going to have them test him for PT at his upcoming meeting but he is seeing a specialist and is improving still. She will improve even tho there have been alot of wasted time but I know what u mean. Good luck!Thanks for sharing that, KBear! Glad that it has decreased for Ky!
Hi everyone,I just wanted to let you know that the meeting went very well this morning. The physical therapist first suggested 1 session a week, but then said she thought maybe 2 would be better, at which point I immediately said that I would prefer 2. So, she will be getting 2 x 30 min per week of PT (pulled out) in addition to the motor groups that she already is in for OT (but they have a PT in there also). We have been so lucky with her school so far. I know that this is not common and we are very grateful that her school has agreed to provide what we feel is necessary so far. I wish this were true of all school systems. Thanks to those of you who helped me! That's awesome, NY! Shannon, Just seen this but wanted to comment that Ky has this "bilateral internal rotation of her hips and feet" (she has femoral anteversion and medial tibial torsion - knock knees and bowed legs). She's seen 2 orthopedic surgeons and has had numerous x-rays done and they tell me the only full way to correct it is by surgery, which my daughter isn't a candidate cause she isnt tripping or knocking her teeth out. Through different PT exercises it has decreased over time :)
That's awesome!! My son had PT 2x a week from EI up until he started school this year, when it was scaled back to once a week. His PT called me a few weeks ago and asked if we could up it again to 2x a week as he thought he really needed it. I love that!! Of course I said yes. |
||
|
Copyright Autism-PDD.net |
