Are therapies really important?

Summer is almost over. My husband has been traveling for work for most of the time, so I feel like I haven't been able to do all the summer things I wanted to do with the kids. One of those things was to take them to the $1 movies Regal Cinema offers over the summer. We went only once, granted, it conflicted with Patrick's therapies on Tuesdays, and with mom's group on Wednesdays. Regardless, I felt like I could have made some accommodations to make it work, if only I hadn't been occupied with other things the past couple months. This week was the last week of the Summer movies, so I called to reschedule Patrick's therapy to the afternoon so we could spend the morning at the theater and enjoying a nice lunch afterwards. I introduced the $1 summer movies to a new friend I made recently, who joined us with her daughter, and now they can't wait for next summer to take advantage of the great deal.

After a busy morning, we headed to therapy. We have ran out of the number of therapies allowed by the insurance. We reached the maximum not even half way through the year. We had to reduce Patrick's Occupational and Speech therapies from twice a week to once a week because it would be too much money without the insurance coverage. I got so frustrated, hopeless and helpless days ago after talking to the insurance about the possibility of increasing the limit of therapies allowed. Of course their response was "not possible." My new friend had just asked me this morning if self-pay therapies were expensive, and when I told her how much we were now paying her response made me doubt if it was all worth it. She couldn't believe we were paying that much for only 90 minutes of service a week (1-60 minutes session of OT, 1-30 minutes session of SP).

I began to question it myself. Does he really need the therapies? Can I just get some tips online and from books and teach him myself? What if the improvement I've seen is due only to the fact that he is growing, and not that he is receiving therapies? Will he catch up on his own as he continues to grow?Are we just wasting all these money and our time? Will he regress if we stop the therapies? What should we do? Then we went to therapy, and God found a way to answer my pleas.

Because we rescheduled, Patrick got to see different speech and occupational therapists than the ones he usually sees. It's great to see he doesn't fight going into the sessions anymore, not even with these nice yet unfamiliar young ladies. When it was his turn for OT, the therapist came to take him, and I realized it was the same woman who performed his evaluation 9 months ago. I got back memories of that meeting: He didn't cooperate much. He cried and screamed at some point. He was either hiding behind me or all over the place. He couldn't perform most of the tasks requested. She had to cut the evaluation short because of his lack of cooperation, but she had seen enough. It was obvious that Patrick lagged behind on many areas.

I knew he was better overall now compared to 9 months ago. But I didn't realize how much better until today's session was over and she came to talk to me. Her face could speak for herself. She was in total awe. She said emphatically how much improvement she saw on Patrick. She talked about all the things they did and how surprised she was at the things he could do. He has improved by leaps and bounds... He still got that great aim when throwing things... He is keeping his hands open most of the time... He was able to balance his body very well on the therapy ball... He has gotten so much strength in his muscles... He was very focus in all the activities... He worked so hard... 

I had to stop listening and had to think about something else. I distracted myself with the kids around, because I didn't want to cry. It was hard not to. I had that expression when someone is about to cry, I could feel it, and I didn't want to show it. But I know she noticed, and I know it was not the first time she had seen this expression in a parent. After all, we are all there hoping for our kids to get better, and when we hear they do, we rejoice. Therapists must feel good, too, after all, they are the ones helping make these improvements possible.

I was reminded today of how far my son has come, how fast, and how much better he is because of his therapies. There are times when all I see is that gap between him and children his age, that I forget how much far behind he was before, and how much bigger that gap used to be. I had forgotten about the evaluation from 9 months ago, but I'm glad I was coincidentally reminded today about it, when I saw the therapist who performed it. I don't know how much longer will Patrick be receiving therapies. Next year, when our insurance starts covering again his therapies, I don't think we will request to go back to receiving services twice a week. I don't want to overwhelm him. He is just a child, not quite 5 years old yet. But I know we will continue to receive therapies for as long as he needs them and for as long as he enjoys them, and for as long as they continue to help him as they have all this time.