Re: Does Early Intervention Programs cover helmets/bands?

[Guest guest]

We used EI in Northern California and they did not cover a band. We tried

getting PT for my son's torticollis but he did not qualify for services.

When he was a bit older he did qualify for Speech Therapy.

Molly

Novato, California

Nicolas, 5, tort & plagio, STARband (CIRS Oakland) 4/24/06-9/12/06,

Graduate!

, 7.5

, 11

Does Early Intervention Programs cover helmets/bands?

Does anyone know if Early Intervention programs are for therapy only - or do

they ever do/refer out for helmets. Just wondering about this; as we had

gotten a second opinion for our daughter from a pediatric neurosurgeon. He

recommended EI. We decided to try it, but became frustrated with the

slowness of the process. As we understand the sooner you get your child

started with a helmet the better/quicker the results. We had to wait about 2

weeks to meet with the intake person from EI, who basically explained the

program, but couldn't tell us whether or not they've ever sent someone to

get banded. We decided to go ahead and have a developmental and physical (or

I can't remember occupational) therapist come out to the house to do their

evals and give recommendations on treatment. We waited a week and a half and

still hadn't heard from either therapist to call us just to schedule their

meeting. When we called to follow up, it was going to be another week and a

half before they co

uld come out. At this point we decided to just go with Cranial Technologies

and get the Doc-Band. We didn't want to waste anymore time, as our daughter

was at this point nearly six months old. She has since gotten her helmet,

and has had it for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. We have seen a few slight changes

already. We are worried that she may need a second one, as that is what one

of the therapists at CT was kind of inferring at our last visit. Can they

really tell that this early on? Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone has

had experience with Early Intervention, and if they just do

therapy/exercises - or if anyone has had a helmet/band covered through them?

Thank You.

------------------------------------

For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Hi there,We used Early Intervention in Pennsylvania. As far as I know, they just cover the different therapy that a child would need in order to 'develop' age appropriately. When they do the evals they assess 5 different areas and then if you qualify, they will provide you with the appropriate type of therapist. Our son has mild hydrocephalus, which probably caused his need for a helmet (the torticollis and severe plagio/brachy), but it automatically qualified him for EI services, so he gets PT every week and a teacher every other week. I'm sure your state has a website to describe things, but this was the one they directed us to. http://www.pattan.net/regsforms/EarlyIntervention.aspxBtw, our pediatric

neurosurgeon recommended us to EI as well, but it was for the developmental therapy. He was the one who took care of all of the helmet referrals.Good luck!Genevieve mom of Sebastian, currently wearing a Starband.From: "Foley, Molly" <mafoley@...>Plagiocephaly Sent: Sun, October 24, 2010 9:16:54 PMSubject: RE: Does Early Intervention Programs cover

helmets/bands?

We used EI in Northern California and they did not cover a band. We tried

getting PT for my son's torticollis but he did not qualify for services.

When he was a bit older he did qualify for Speech Therapy.

Molly

Novato, California

Nicolas, 5, tort & plagio, STARband (CIRS Oakland) 4/24/06-9/12/06,

Graduate!

, 7.5

, 11

Does Early Intervention Programs cover helmets/bands?

Does anyone know if Early Intervention programs are for therapy only - or do

they ever do/refer out for helmets. Just wondering about this; as we had

gotten a second opinion for our daughter from a pediatric neurosurgeon. He

recommended EI. We decided to try it, but became frustrated with the

slowness of the process. As we understand the sooner you get your child

started with a helmet the better/quicker the results. We had to wait about 2

weeks to meet with the intake person from EI, who basically explained the

program, but couldn't tell us whether or not they've ever sent someone to

get banded. We decided to go ahead and have a developmental and physical (or

I can't remember occupational) therapist come out to the house to do their

evals and give recommendations on treatment. We waited a week and a half and

still hadn't heard from either therapist to call us just to schedule their

meeting. When we called to follow up, it was going to be another week and a

half before they co

uld come out. At this point we decided to just go with Cranial Technologies

and get the Doc-Band. We didn't want to waste anymore time, as our daughter

was at this point nearly six months old. She has since gotten her helmet,

and has had it for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. We have seen a few slight changes

already. We are worried that she may need a second one, as that is what one

of the therapists at CT was kind of inferring at our last visit. Can they

really tell that this early on? Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone has

had experience with Early Intervention, and if they just do

therapy/exercises - or if anyone has had a helmet/band covered through them?

Thank You.

------------------------------------

For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Thanks!

Does Early Intervention Programs cover helmets/bands?

Does anyone know if Early Intervention programs are for therapy only - or do

they ever do/refer out for helmets. Just wondering about this; as we had

gotten a second opinion for our daughter from a pediatric neurosurgeon. He

recommended EI. We decided to try it, but became frustrated with the

slowness of the process. As we understand the sooner you get your child

started with a helmet the better/quicker the results. We had to wait about 2

weeks to meet with the intake person from EI, who basically explained the

program, but couldn't tell us whether or not they've ever sent someone to

get banded. We decided to go ahead and have a developmental and physical (or

I can't remember occupational) therapist come out to the house to do their

evals and give recommendations on treatment. We waited a week and a half and

still hadn't heard from either therapist to call us just to schedule their

meeting. When we called to follow up, it was going to be another week and a

half before they co

uld come out. At this point we decided to just go with Cranial Technologies

and get the Doc-Band. We didn't want to waste anymore time, as our daughter

was at this point nearly six months old. She has since gotten her helmet,

and has had it for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. We have seen a few slight changes

already. We are worried that she may need a second one, as that is what one

of the therapists at CT was kind of inferring at our last visit. Can they

really tell that this early on? Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone has

had experience with Early Intervention, and if they just do

therapy/exercises - or if anyone has had a helmet/band covered through them?

Thank You.

------------------------------------

For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

EI is basically a special free service by the school district. So no doctors. They evaluate for educational reasons not medical. Their purpose is to determine only educational needs. So they could call your child delayed or autistic but it's for educational purposes only to get them the right teacher, not a diagnosis. But you have to go through your doctor to get a different eval that covers the why part of it... WHY are they delayed etc.My child had to wait 3 months to go to the neuro surgeon and another month to actually get into her helmut. She got hers at 17 months and they did not care how much I told them it was time sensitive. Your baby is very lucky you got things done as quickly as you did.EI WAS saying that the helmut COULD qualify a child for services. I think

they didn't understand it didn't mean my child was handicapped, it was just a temporary thing. TheKim