EI Frustration

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JW has had one visit with a PT/EI specialist and all she did was ask me questions about him and show me infant massage. She used a doll while I practiced on him. (I'd already learned infant massage from the PT in the NICU.) She never even touched him during the visit. And when I told her about his shortened shoulder muscle like the NICU PT told me to, all she said was "Oh." Am I expecting too much here? This is my first experience with EI, but I assumed she would be a little bit more hands on. That said, today was supposed to be our second appointment with her and she didn't show. JW has an appt with his pedi on Tues and I think I'm going to have her write a prescription for him to see the PT he saw in the NICU. It will mean going to her office instead of having it here at the house, but at least I know her already and like her and know she's hands on.

preemieparent

Sometimes a first appointment does involve a lot of hands on.  But not showing up for the 2nd appointment is bad.   I would call your social worker or coordinator and let them know you are not happy with the person.  Request someone new.  You have every right to voice your opinion and request changes.

That being said, if your insurance will cover a PT that you like than I would go with that.   It sounds like you were happy with that person so that may be the best thing.

Good luck!

TriciaJoy

Ditto PP. It depends on a lot of things. The first PT eval we had for Robbie, he slept through the whole thing and htey just based it off of my observations. Now that he's a little older, they're more hands on with him..

Not showing up would piss me off, though.

EI can be great or awful. It really depends. We've been pretty fortunate with only a few small snags, but I've heard some horror stories.

Mrs. Destructo

I don't know if this is true across the country, but it's definitely true in our state. The bad economy is hitting our state services HARD. Many, many kids are being denied service. I'm not certain, but I think the only kids that are getting therapies are the ones who have very specific diagnoses (like autism or CP), which means their services are paid for with federal $$.

Anyway, because of what's going on in our state, I've completely given up on getting my guys help through EI or any of the other "free" programs. We've been going to a therapy center that our insurance pays for, and have had much better luck. 

So in my experience, I think it's a great idea to get a referral for PT with the other therapist, especially because you know the therapist and really like her.

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Ok, so the specialist called my cell this morning and left a message wanting to know if I was still expecting her. So since I didn't call back she just didn't show? How about you try calling again?

For the record, I didn't check my messages earlier because my only missed call was from an out of state number and I thought it was our rep at the company our insurance company has hired to keep tabs on JW and his ongoing medical needs.