So I talked to the admin or whatever you call her (answers the phones, does scheduling etc) and she apologized profusely for the director wording.
I said that I understand she's under stress, but it's really no ok to talk to clients like that. Then I proceeded to blurt out everything I was upset over and asked if she could have our main therapist call me.
She (admin) gave me a hug and apologized again and as I was walking out the main therapist came in.
I chatted with another mom in the lobby and she was appalled at what happened. She said it's hard having a kid that actually does act out in the lobby (her lo has downs and is quite prone to hair pulling), but has never seen H act out or be anything less than a sweet boy.
The therapist called me a few minutes ago and once again apologized and said she thinks we should have had another meeting to go over the new techniques with the hanen approach so we were all on the same page with that (this addressed the "gruff" way H was greeted yesterday.
She also told me that what the problem (and she said it's not a problem per se and it's not just h) is that during the hand off and chat about the session, sometimes it's interrupted by H wanting to go back in the therapy room or by him heading to see if the dog is in the office (duh, what do you think bringing your dog to work with a bunch of kids is going to do?) makes it hard to do it quickly and sometimes makes them a few minutes late for the next people. She said it's already gotten better and she was once again sorry for the way it was conveyed.
Ok, I can be ok with that. I can be really ok with that when it's acknowledged that most of the other kids do the same thing.
I brought up that I was afraid he's getting a stigma b/c the word choice indicated as much and that I wasn't happy with that. I said I wanted to be comfortable there and that they had to understand H isn't shy at all and he's not the type of kid to just sit and hug on mommy all day (as much as I'd like that some times). She agreed that he's the most outgoing kid they have with a speech delay and it's something they aren't used to.
So they want to have a short meeting to talk about the technique and what we are comfortable with and go on from there.
She said she loves working with H and would really hate to see us go.
So I said I'm fine with that and let's continue for now and if I still feel weird or like he is being treated unfair, we might have to look elsewhere.
Thanks for the support gals!
Re: update to speech therapy place
I'm glad your concerns were addressed and I hope you see positive changes from here on out! I read your post late last night on my phone (and was too tired to respond) but I would've been appalled by that treatment as well. Good luck!
ps: thanks again for your words on the crib thing last night. I read them right as I was having a spaz out about whether we did the right thing, and it was JUST what I needed to hear. Thanks, fjaril.
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
mlf :your a big goober and i'm emotional so thanks for making me tear up a smidge
I hope they keep her away! I might even see if I can deal with the asistant director too, b/c the 3rd time she puts my kid down isn't going to be pretty
I say you should have a can of green beans and a pillowcase in your purse for the next time she makes a rude comment.
Ditto here. I'm proud of you for speaking up! I know how hard that can be, but you did yourself and them a favor by giving them a chance to fix the problem.
this totally made me LOL
Glad you were able to talk with them and get things straightened out.
I'm glad you spoke to them--hopefully things will get better!
:-)