On my previous post, Overcoming Low Muscle Tone: Professional Help - Doctors, I wrote that Patrick's neurologist suggested that he started Early Intervention services to help with his developmental delays.
Of all the things that we have done to help Patrick overcome his low muscle tone (and his developmental delays in general), Early Intervention Services have been the most helpful resource. It's probable that your hypotonic child is already receiving Early Intervention, but in case you are new to this, here is a brief explanation (from their website) of what they do:
The Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia provides early intervention supports and services to infants and toddlers from birth through age two who are not developing as expected or who have a medical condition that can delay normal development.
A child with a developmental delay or differences in development is not developing like other children his age. The delay or difference can be in one or more of the following areas:
- Taking care of one's self, including eating and dressing
- Developing relationships
Supports and services focus on helping parents and other caregivers know how to find ways to help the child learn during everyday activities. These supports and services are available for all eligible children and their families regardless of the family's ability to pay.
Every state provides this service, and if your child needs assistance, you shouldn't have any problem getting it. An initial interview/observation is scheduled which will help them determine if your child is eligible. Also, they will do an informal visit to your house to ensure that your child is provided with a safe environment. Afterwards, you will have a meeting to decide what type of services your child will receive and with what frequency. You are also assigned a coordinator who will oversee the work of the therapists and respond to your concerns.
Once you are all set, the therapist(s) will go to your house for 1 hour, observe your child while playing, and will give you suggestions on what to do to help improve his developmental delays. You are supposed to work on these tasks on a daily basis. Every 6 months you, your coordinator and the therapists will have a meeting to evaluate the progress, create new goals, and determine if a change on the frequency of therapies is needed, and if any additional therapists should join the team.
Below, Patrick's experience with the Infant and Toddler Connection of Virginia:
a) Physical Therapist: Patrick began taking twice a month therapies. Most of the suggestions I have written on this blog are actually ideas that his therapist has given me all along. Patrick is doing so great on his walking and running that therapies have been reduced to only one a month. Also, suggestions from her therapist now focus more on his fine motor skills.
b) Speech Therapist: As I mentioned in the last post, the developmental pediatrician at Children's Hospital suggested that Patrick took speech therapist. The coordinator agreed and Patrick began taking therapies twice a month. Shortly after, Patrick had his 1 year evaluation with the coordinator, who suggested to increase therapies to 3 times a month. Given that she sees Patrick more often than his physical therapist, she has also been helping us with some of Patrick's behavior issues. We are now in the midst of finding out what type of problem is causing Patrick's speech delay, having verbal apraxia as a possibility.
c) Occupational Therapist: Patrick does not take occupational therapies, however, we met with one couple days ago. As I have mentioned briefly in previous posts, Patrick's throwing, screaming and hitting was starting to get out of control. Also, due to his constant mouthing (placing toys in his mouth) and banging of toys, his ability to play with toys, learn and engage with other kids is limited. His body (joints) need pressure/hard input, and so all of this made us believe that Patrick had Sensory Integration Disorder. After a written test I had to do, the occupational therapist scored it, and met with me (and the speech therapist) to give me the results. Patrick appears to have some level of sensory integration disorder in some areas, but the occupational therapist suggested we didn't address his issue as SID, but rather, we should focus in the particular areas that we need to work on and will give us some ideas on what to do to help him. As she said it "Sensory Integration Disorder are big words and you may get lost in it if you see it as a whole picture. Let's just work in the mere areas he needs help, and it will be less overwhelming for you and Patrick". I was very happy with her approach, and I'm looking forward to the report with detailed suggestions she will send me shortly.
All of the therapies that Patrick receives currently are provided by the Infant and Toddler Connection of Virginia, and are provided to us at no cost. Luckily, Patrick's delays aren't severe, so private therapies haven't been required. Patrick won't be able to receive these services after November, when he turns 3, but he will continue to receive tailored services at the Special Education Preschool. It's possible, however, that if Patrick's speech delay has little improvement after he starts preschool, we may add private therapies.
Of all the things that we have done to help Patrick overcome his low muscle tone (and his developmental delays in general), Early Intervention Services have been the most helpful resource. It's probable that your hypotonic child is already receiving Early Intervention, but in case you are new to this, here is a brief explanation (from their website) of what they do:
The Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia provides early intervention supports and services to infants and toddlers from birth through age two who are not developing as expected or who have a medical condition that can delay normal development.
A child with a developmental delay or differences in development is not developing like other children his age. The delay or difference can be in one or more of the following areas:
- Thinking, learning, and playing
- Moving, seeing, and hearing
- Understanding and using sounds, gestures and words- Taking care of one's self, including eating and dressing
- Developing relationships
Supports and services focus on helping parents and other caregivers know how to find ways to help the child learn during everyday activities. These supports and services are available for all eligible children and their families regardless of the family's ability to pay.
Once you are all set, the therapist(s) will go to your house for 1 hour, observe your child while playing, and will give you suggestions on what to do to help improve his developmental delays. You are supposed to work on these tasks on a daily basis. Every 6 months you, your coordinator and the therapists will have a meeting to evaluate the progress, create new goals, and determine if a change on the frequency of therapies is needed, and if any additional therapists should join the team.
Below, Patrick's experience with the Infant and Toddler Connection of Virginia:
a) Physical Therapist: Patrick began taking twice a month therapies. Most of the suggestions I have written on this blog are actually ideas that his therapist has given me all along. Patrick is doing so great on his walking and running that therapies have been reduced to only one a month. Also, suggestions from her therapist now focus more on his fine motor skills.
b) Speech Therapist: As I mentioned in the last post, the developmental pediatrician at Children's Hospital suggested that Patrick took speech therapist. The coordinator agreed and Patrick began taking therapies twice a month. Shortly after, Patrick had his 1 year evaluation with the coordinator, who suggested to increase therapies to 3 times a month. Given that she sees Patrick more often than his physical therapist, she has also been helping us with some of Patrick's behavior issues. We are now in the midst of finding out what type of problem is causing Patrick's speech delay, having verbal apraxia as a possibility.
c) Occupational Therapist: Patrick does not take occupational therapies, however, we met with one couple days ago. As I have mentioned briefly in previous posts, Patrick's throwing, screaming and hitting was starting to get out of control. Also, due to his constant mouthing (placing toys in his mouth) and banging of toys, his ability to play with toys, learn and engage with other kids is limited. His body (joints) need pressure/hard input, and so all of this made us believe that Patrick had Sensory Integration Disorder. After a written test I had to do, the occupational therapist scored it, and met with me (and the speech therapist) to give me the results. Patrick appears to have some level of sensory integration disorder in some areas, but the occupational therapist suggested we didn't address his issue as SID, but rather, we should focus in the particular areas that we need to work on and will give us some ideas on what to do to help him. As she said it "Sensory Integration Disorder are big words and you may get lost in it if you see it as a whole picture. Let's just work in the mere areas he needs help, and it will be less overwhelming for you and Patrick". I was very happy with her approach, and I'm looking forward to the report with detailed suggestions she will send me shortly.
All of the therapies that Patrick receives currently are provided by the Infant and Toddler Connection of Virginia, and are provided to us at no cost. Luckily, Patrick's delays aren't severe, so private therapies haven't been required. Patrick won't be able to receive these services after November, when he turns 3, but he will continue to receive tailored services at the Special Education Preschool. It's possible, however, that if Patrick's speech delay has little improvement after he starts preschool, we may add private therapies.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to leave a question or a message!