Moms of LOs who have/are doing pt, speech therapy, OT etc.

Rachel5782

Do you or did you stay with the therapist while they are working with LO?  Since we went through EI, the pt comes to our house.  I like sitting and watching because a)it's just interesting and b) it gives me ideas of things I can do with him by myself to help his gross motor skills.  But sometimes there's no reason for me to be there and I certainly don't want the pt to feel like I'm breathing down her neck.  She certainly has never told me to leave the room, but  I don't want to be a pain either.  Are parents supposed to stay in the room or let the pt do their job alone with LO?  Btw, we've had several sessions now and I trust the pt to be alone with DS while I'm in another room.

chuicafina

Rachel5782:

Do you or did you stay with the therapist while they are working with LO?  Since we went through EI, the pt comes to our house.  I like sitting and watching because a)it's just interesting and b) it gives me ideas of things I can do with him by myself to help his gross motor skills.  But sometimes there's no reason for me to be there and I certainly don't want the pt to feel like I'm breathing down her neck.  She certainly has never told me to leave the room, but  I don't want to be a pain either.  Are parents supposed to stay in the room or let the pt do their job alone with LO?  Btw, we've had several sessions now and I trust the pt to be alone with DS while I'm in another room.

I'm an SLP and I know that if I were working in EI, I would want the parent to stay with me while I was working with the child. EI is as much about parent training as it is about direct therapy with the child. I'm sure she's fine with you staying with them. If you still feel like you're interested and learning from their sessions, I'd definitely stay! 

MammaBear81

DS1 had speech and OT, DS2 had speech, OT and PT.  With DS1 he did much better when I wasn't in the room.  The therapist always left the door open, but I usually folded laundry etc. during the appointment.  She always took a few minutes at the end to show me what they were working on so I could work with him until the next meeting (they met 2-3 times per week).  With the PT a lot of the time I was needed for motivation etc because it was very hard for DS2 to work on strengthening his muscles (I felt so bad sometimes) so I was a big participant in that.  Funny thing to note, when my mom did PT with him she had to stay out of the room, DS2 wouldn't do ANYTHING while my mom was there, so I guess it depends on the dynamics of the situation.

TheBride312

We have it all. We go to a place for PT and I am an active participant in the hour. OT and speech come to our house and it's the same way. I'd be worried if it weren't. I like having the time to ask questions and really understand what they are working on with E. 

AshleyPT

As a PT, I prefer the parents to usually be around for kids this young. I certainly don't mind if the parent needs to get something done for the session and if they talk to me about that, I would tell them my treatment plan and ask them to come back for the last 15 minutes to see any new activities or share progress and updates. As kids get older, they often perform better if the parent isn't sitting right there, but I don't usually see that at this age. I would never think you were being overbearing for attending sessions.