Low Funds...

So, as many of you know, we've been waiting on an Occupational Therapist for J for about a month now. The nurse at his Drs office called the CDC and they let her know that it would be AT LEAST 6 months before he could be assigned an OT through them, so that wouldn't work. She then sent the referral to the Early Intervention center we are alreayd using for his speech therapy. I waited a week and then started calling them to see if I can get any idea of how long we will have to wait for the OT. I ended up leaving 3 different messages that were not returned and no one who answered the calls could answer my questions. It was ridiculous. So yesterday I called and complained. I also told his speech therapist, when she came for his session, that I could not get any calls returned and it was very frustrating. So I wasn't surprised when my calls were finally returned later yesterday evening. I told the coordinator that I was calling to see what the status was on J and his OT. She told me:



"We are low on funds and that's why he hasn't been assigned an OT yet. We can only assign OTs when they are truly needed."

What the?? First of all, we were prepared to pay for Early Intervention for our son, we were surprised when we found out that it is funded until he is 3 yrs old. Funding should not be a reason why my son cannot get an OT. What really upset me though was the comment that OTs are only assigned where truly needed. Well how do you decide when an OT is truly needed? The coordinator does not witness his sensory behaviors so she wouldn't know. She then asked me why was his Dr referring him for an OT. I told her "J has some sensory issues that are affecting his progress in speech therapy. The speech therapist agrees that his sensory issues need to be addressed in order for him to get more out of his sessions with her." With that she said, "Ok we will get him set up with an OT."

I really don't expect to hear anything from them anytime soon, but you better believe that they will get a call from me weekly and I will ask his SLP every Monday if she's heard anything. Such a frustrating system to have to deal with!