Re: Does Early Intervention Programs cover helmets/bands?

[Guest guest]

As far as I know, EI doesn't cover banding. I think it's strictly for therapy

as far as all the literature I've read. You should ask your service

coordinator.

Our experience with EI was the same as yours. Appointments were slow to get and

we had to do a lot of follow up phone calls. I think it's mostly because there

is a ton of protocol that EI has to adhere to and states have tightened their

belts with qualifying children for therapy. Your office might also have some

problems finding therapists or evaluators.

My best advice would be to keep calling your service coordinator within a

reasonable amount of time between meetings/phone calls (I usually wait about 2-3

days). There's probably a lot of cases passing through their office and you

want to be at the top of them.

I think there have been cases where CT may warn that 2 bands might be necessary

and the child ends up having great growth spurts and finishes with one band. The

age of your child sometimes is a determinant on whether 1 or 2 bands are used

(younger children usually grow so fast, they need 2 bands).

Also, YOU decide if you want a second band and if you are satisfied with the

results of the first band, you might not want to go ahead with the second one.

I wouldn't worry about it until you have to cross that bridge.

Just curious, why did your pediatric neurosurgeon recommend EI?

Luke, 23 months, brachy & plagio

STARband & DOCband grad '09

NYC

>

> 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 could 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.

>

[Guest guest]

Our Early Intervention doesn't cover bands either because they are strictly for

the educational use of the school district. My daughter slipped into the

qualifications because her torticollis (which doesn't qualify her nor does

plagiocephaly) had caused obvious motor delays between left and right sides.

From what I understand from Cranial Tech at least, to get the band you need a

prescription from a doctor and most therapists are unable to give you the needed

prescription. Therapists could at most refer you to someone who can evaluate

your child and then write the script if they deem it necessary. Early

Intervention is just a therapy based program and won't help you with covering

medical costs.

I'm sorry your EI programs seem delayed in responding to you as that has not

been the experience we have had. I have phone numbers and emails to both our

weekly occupational therapist and the main physical therapist (once a month) and

they usually respond within 24 hours and will give me a heads up when my

daughter is going to have monthly evaluation session since it changes a little

week to week. They also send me an email report once every 2 weeks or so.

Also, I didn't know this before hand, but Cranial Tech's initial evaluations are

free so you could go get an evaluation and then take it to a doctor for a

presciption...

>

> 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 could 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.

>

[Guest guest]

They can tell this early on if the child might need another helmet based on the age. Growth rates change at different times and based on the average 6 month old, they know when the baby will likely have a growth spurt. So they later the baby starts, the more spurts are missed and the skull is getting harder. For example, our baby started at 5 months and he only needed 1 band, but if we wanted 2-4 more weeks of treatment to perfectly round out a flat spot behind his ear, we would have needed to get another band because the lifespan of the band had run its course. Because we had missed his many early growth spurts (he is 10 months old and 28 pounds, 31.5 " long so he got big fast), there weren't as many chances for his flat spot to fill in. For about 4 weeks there were times when they said he hadn't grown much in his skull so we were in kind of a slow growth period for a while, unfortunately. Had we started at 4 months when we first noticed and not been waiting for the prescription from the doctor and messing with insurance, we might have gotten more out of the helmet. He looked good enough to us and the therapist though and there had been great improvement between the 5 and 8 months. His ears and face were back aligned, he was no longer oblong looking from the top, and the back had rounded out more. So a quarter sized flat spot behind the ear wasn't worth $3500 more to us for just a couple of weeks. 6 months is still in a good time though. I think the real concern happens after 12 months where it is more difficult to treat.