Re: Physcial therapy and 504

[Guest guest]

Hi,

To qualify for therapy in the schools is very rare and they will not give you

the

services your child really needs. They are there to hep your child to succeed in

school but not to be completely physically able, etc. You need to go through

your insurance company to get help. You may be able to get some OT

through the school---much easier to qualify for---than PT. Good luck!

e, mom to 'joe' now 24 poly+ who just can't shake her 'crud' and has 7

more teaching days left of the school year

From: aidarova tolkyn <wave75_1999@...>

Subject: Physcial therapy and 504

Date: Friday, May 20, 2011, 9:39 AM

 

HI :

I was wondeirng if you guys can share your experience or give advice about your

kids PT. are you guys getting the PT services at school or through your

insurance.  Does your child's 504 Plan help them to get PT session during the

school year.

Thanks,

Tolkyn

[Guest guest]

My son had an IEP prior to his JIA diagnosis...at age 3 he was evaluated and got

the IEP just after turning 4. He qualified for a special needs, intensive,

language based pre-k...qualifiers were severe speech impairment and significant

developmental delays. He also has an eye condition, nystagmus plus he had 'lazy'

eye and low vision...and moderate to severe sensory issues...also addressed in

his IEP. He STILL did not qualify for OT or PT at school.

Every year I tried for them...every year I was shot down. He did and does get ST

twice weekly and has been in a very unique high functioning special needs, self

contained classroom. Thanks to massive school budget cuts by the state...that is

no longer an option for him next year in second grade. But his teacher feels he

ready for a typically developing classroom anyway...so we shall see. He still

has his IEP...and me...so he will get what he needs to succeed!

We did get private, insurance paid OT (and feeding therapy) for his sensory

issues...but he had to be dxed with 'weak shoulders' (and swallowing issues).

That was with our old insurance...and once we met the lifetime cap...we had to

pay out of pocket. We did negotiate a much smaller cash per session price but it

was still expensive...and eventually had to stop therapy at age 6. My husband

had been either unemployed or underemployed for several years at that point.

Last October my husband got a great job at a pharma company and they have

awesome insurance. So we started private OT (reccommended by his rheumy) and

ST last October...at age 7.

Since we now have the proper diagnosis of JIA...the OT is working miracles with

him. Prior to this round of therapy you could barely read his writing...now

it's almost normal 7 year old boy writing. He's almost got shoe tying down and

overall had massive improvement with the ot.

has poly in his toes, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and fingers so we now

realize many of his old dx's were really caused by the JIA.

Anyway my longwinded point is that it is VERY difficult to get PT or OT covered

at school. At one IEP session I was ready to laugh...they said that because you

could read his writing...after he told you what it said...that was good enough

for them. Utterly ridiculous because before he told you it looked like a big

mess of 'scribble scrabble' as we called it.

Good luck,

& , almost 8, poly...nystagmus...SPD

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