How long do you continue OT & VT?

[FairProspects]

We have been doing OT for a combined total of 8 months now (with a 6 month break in the middle), and VT for about 15 months. We have seen lots of progress for ds, but even the OT admitted she was not sure how much was due to therapy and how much was natural age maturity. She said he was a "borderline" candidate for OT.

 

We have been able to do therapy because we had generous insurance, but now we are switching insurances. We are blessed that the new insurance does cover some OT, but it will be considerably more expensive. My frustration is just that it seems these therapies are never ending at a very high cost.

 

How long do most kids continue with OT & VT? Are we going to be paying these costs for years? Will a therapist ever graduate you (and work themselves out of a client)? How do you even begin to do the cost/benefit on something like this?

[wapiti]

Our OT was a very specific, 20-session program, which was short but intensive (multiple sessions per week). This was at the STAR Center.

 

Our VT was for 6 months, which seems to be a common place to start. At the end of the 6 months, fortunately dd was done. She passed the test, so to speak. The optometrist was the one to decide when she was done. She had a few appointments with the optometrist during the course of VT to check on her progress. For my dd, the difference in how she was able to move her eyes was plainly obvious, even to me.

 

15 months sounds like quite a long time to do VT, though I can also imagine cases where that could be necessary (I have a feeling that if we hadn't done OT, which happened to be in combination with listening therapy, it might have taken dd longer than it did to complete the VT). Have you seen significant improvement? What has the optometrist said? Do you think the therapy isn't terribly effective, or is the problem extra-difficult to overcome? Is your child doing daily vision exercises at home? Depending on your answers to these questions, I might consider a second opinion from another optometrist.

[Guest]

What a tough question. My dd had a year of OT, and then the OT said she had made enough progress that we should give it a rest for a while (we were paying private, so finances were a concern she took into account). When I took dd back about three years later, the OT said she was resistant enough that it would not be worth the outlay. I really appreciated that honesty! Meanwhile, we found that horseback riding with all the associated heavy work and grooming as been like an extended OT session, many more hours a week, with other benefits besides (bonding with the horse, social connections, responsibility and a job, etc.).

 

Both bouts of VT we did went over the original estimation of duration. I don't know how typical this is. Each went over by about three months. Then, although dd still clearly had some issues remaining, she was indeed graduated, complete with certificate. We go back once every year or two years for a re-check; so far, so good. I plan to have her do another bout before she takes drivers' ed eventually.

 

As I said, I have no idea how typical our experience was, but that was it (dd is an Aspie with dysgraphia, visual-spatial issues, etc.).

[Dobela]

My son 'qualified' for OT for 2 years and almost qualified for 3. By qualified, I mean he showed a deficit of -2 Standard deviations or more after the evaluations. He still has deficits in fine motor skills but they since we can't pay for the therapy and insurance will only cover deficits of -2SD or more, we stopped.

 

He took VT for 16 months. His therapist re-evaluated him every 12 weeks and then filed for pre-approval from the insurance company each time.

 

When I was working professionally, the length of time depended on the child and why they were taking therapy.

[Laura Corin]

Calvin did OT for three years. We then moved away from the OT and didn't do any more. Martial arts took over from the OT in his development. We did VT for about six months. I'm still not sure what I feel about it.

 

Laura