Beauty From Ashes Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Do any of you do your own therapy at home? I don't mean someone come to your home, I am speaking of doing it yourself. We live in a very tiny town (280 people). The closest therapists are over 2 hours away each direction. It's just nearly impossible to manage that schedule with the boys (both need multiple therapies). It is beyond hard and they are starting to wear out. I have talked to our insurance company and they are pretty sure they can pay for training and supplies for me since this is not working and the drive is so hard on the kids (not to mention the cost of gas, having to deal with special foods, and so on). I am trying to figure out everything we need (we have NO one out here that does therapy for kids like we have) because it seems we live in the land of "what is Autism" and "special needs? Definition please". Sigh. Moving isn't an option, not at all. So we have to make this work. Does anyone do even just one therapy at home that might provide some advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Yes, sometimes I think I have taken "do-it-yourself" to a new level. I will add this disclaimer: I have a health care background and the problems I address aren't serious enough to attract attention from others, at least not unless I point them out and push for evaluations, at which time a specialist might catch onto something more specific. (I wanted to add that disclaimer because not every parent is capable of this, just as not everyone is capable of fixing their home's plumbing or electrical wiring.) Some good resources I've found are Lindamood-Bell through Gander Publishing http://www.ganderpublishing.com/ and Therapro http://www.therapro.com/Default.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyomarie Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Two hours would be incredibly difficult to manage! How often are you making the trip? That would be awesome if your insurance company would cover the cost of training you, since there are no providers within a reasonable distance. That would give you the abiity to handle the day to day therapy. If your current providers are willing, perhaps they could help you stay on track with a program by having a monthly session with the boys and allow you to give an update one what's happening & brainstorm with them about the next month's goals & activities. That would give you the benefit of staying connected to the experienced eyes of a professional while cutting down on the stress of traveling so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Another option would be to make arrangements with the therapists to only visit one time per month and then have lots of homework for you to do with the children. Other peopple onthis forum have worked out similar agreements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 We did vision therapy at home. We would travel once per month (2.5 hours each way) to the office, do a therapy session there and then get papers with exercises to do, instructions, sometimes pictures that demonstrated positions, sometimes equipment to purchase, etc... It worked out really well for us, as weekly or twice-weekly sessions just were not feasible. I hope you can find a way to make things work, I know it's a lot. Even though our therapy was only about 20 minutes per day or so, it was sometimes very emotional. Things that looked like they should be easy were sometimes very difficult for my son, and that really frustrated him. Hang in there! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I have always done ds7's speech therapy at home. He just would not work with the therapist so even in the big city when we lived less than 5 minutes from the SLP I still did the therapy at home on my own. We would go for an assessment every 6 months, the SLP would then put together a package of exercises to do at home with him until the next assessment. It worked very well. If he needed other therapies I would do them here as well if I could be taught how, simply because he does not like working with other people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty From Ashes Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 We travel at least twice a week for therapies. That's 5 hours drive time, plus all the time between therapies waiting, it's hard. It's an all day thing. We leave at 7am, don't get home until 4 or 5pm depending on what we have that day. I didn't think about having a therapist just oversee us. Great idea. I am going to talk to our existing therapists and see if they would be willing to do that. If not, I will check around with some other therapy centers in that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heart'sjoy Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I've driven once to see our consultant in RDI 5+ hours in the last year. We skype every 2 weeks and I send in video therapy for her to critique and advance us. Not sure what therapy you're needing. Licensed practitioners such as PT and OT should be able to make a home program.:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenncslp Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I am a Speech-Language Pathologist, so I do my daughter's speech therapy here. I also started doing occupational therapy activities here as well. I would definitely check with therapists about setting up a home based program. I set them up for families and then check in on them monthly, or as they request. You can also do some speech therapy via the internet now. Jenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty From Ashes Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 Thanks all. I am making calls this week to our current therapists (figured that's the logical place to start since they already know the boys needs and deficiencies). If they aren't willing to help us, then I will start looking at other therapists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Thanks all. I am making calls this week to our current therapists (figured that's the logical place to start since they already know the boys needs and deficiencies). If they aren't willing to help us, then I will start looking at other therapists. I would love to have an update on what the therapists say and do. Even though we live fairly close to our therapists, my dd receives 6 hours a week plus another 2 hours in travel a week. That means I lose a lot of time away from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just-a-mom Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I'm so glad I found this thread, I could almost cry. I just joined the board last night for help with something else and thought I'd search for speech help to see what came up. I'm so excited to "accidentally" find you guys! My son needs speech therapy but we are having trouble getting to it. Would it be okay to hijack this thread and ask if people could post resources for at-home speech therapy? I'd be more than willing to start another thread but this seemed a good place to start. Thanks! Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinNY Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I'm so glad I found this thread, I could almost cry. I just joined the board last night for help with something else and thought I'd search for speech help to see what came up. I'm so excited to "accidentally" find you guys! My son needs speech therapy but we are having trouble getting to it. Would it be okay to hijack this thread and ask if people could post resources for at-home speech therapy? I'd be more than willing to start another thread but this seemed a good place to start. Thanks! Sarah Welcome, You will need to fill us in on his age and his speech issues. These ladies are a very helpful bunch.:001_smile: Virginia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty From Ashes Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 I'm so glad I found this thread, I could almost cry. I just joined the board last night for help with something else and thought I'd search for speech help to see what came up. I'm so excited to "accidentally" find you guys! My son needs speech therapy but we are having trouble getting to it. Would it be okay to hijack this thread and ask if people could post resources for at-home speech therapy? I'd be more than willing to start another thread but this seemed a good place to start. Thanks! Sarah You just hijack away! I will be watching as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinNY Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 At home speech resources I have used: Straight Talk- this is good for simple articulation issues. I was able to remediate one son's issues with "th" and "v". He had language processing problems, too. But he was able to stay at grade level with this guide's suggestions and using lots of dictation and narration. Earobics- good for mild auditory processing issues, phonemic awareness problems and attention issues. Used with two kids, one severely language impaired, one mild. LiPs- this was a great crash course for the layperson on how sounds are formed and the position of the tongue and mouth with both vowel/consonant sounds. I did the DIY approach and bought the home kit. Well worth it for my severe lang impaired girl. (she still needed the services of a speech therapist) Therapeutic Listening- we did this at home but through the administration of an OT. Helped alot with sensory and auditory processing as well as attention. Dr. Jerome Rosner's book Helping Children Overcome Learning Disabilities helped my dtr and me alot with her auditory perceptual skill building. Listen my Children and You shall Hear by Betty Lou Kratoville has great listening building exercises to help with auditory memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just-a-mom Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Wow! Thank you! I'm glad to have your support. I can already feel it. One dear lady IRL told me she thought I just felt guilty...and that my son didn't have a problem. :-) So--stumbling across y'all was a real boost. Josh turned five over the weekend. He is a middle child, but we don't let the older two (both sisters) talk for him. He substitutes a lot of sounds, but I recently noticed he is starting to use some of the correct sounds. The only professional help we've had is ONE visit to an ENT. She tested his hearing, which was fine. Oh, his pediatrician caught an asymptomatic ear infection, and we have no idea how long he'd had it. ($$ and a transportation problems have kept us from getting checkbox in the past.) It hasn't worked out to get to the speech therapist yet. :-/ Don't know if these details are important, but I thought I'd mention the following: he still sucks his thumb. As a smaller child, he drooled a lot. I think it was a muscle-tone thing? IDK. His vocabulary is good--maybe even advanced. His cadence is always correct. His great-grandfather was a musical genius, and genius runs in the family. My husband can understand Josh a lot better when he sings. Don't know what to make of that. He understands what I tell him....he just doesn't have the right sounds. I have a list somewhere of the English sounds. I plan to do a "sound inventory" to get a baseline and start charting our progress! So far we have "Teach Me How to Say Ot Right", "Speechercise" (used once a month), and those handout from a speech lady. :-) TIA for whatever help you have for us. You've already made a difference in our lives. Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty From Ashes Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 Don't have a lot of time right now, but the singing might be a great benefit to you with regards to speech. SLP's like to use these small things to their advantage. Goodness, they used our younger son's love of picnics to help with his feeding therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just-a-mom Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Hey, thanks! I'm having trouble finding some of these on Amazon. Straight Talk and LiPs have weird results...can you tell me if there is more to the title than what you gave? And do you have any details about Therapeutic Listening? I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right thing or not. Also-- it is so good to hear of other moms doing therapy at home. Maybe I really CAN do this! At home speech resources I have used: Straight Talk- this is good for simple articulation issues. I was able to remediate one son's issues with "th" and "v". He had language processing problems, too. But he was able to stay at grade level with this guide's suggestions and using lots of dictation and narration. Earobics- good for mild auditory processing issues, phonemic awareness problems and attention issues. Used with two kids, one severely language impaired, one mild. LiPs- this was a great crash course for the layperson on how sounds are formed and the position of the tongue and mouth with both vowel/consonant sounds. I did the DIY approach and bought the home kit. Well worth it for my severe lang impaired girl. (she still needed the services of a speech therapist) Therapeutic Listening- we did this at home but through the administration of an OT. Helped alot with sensory and auditory processing as well as attention. Dr. Jerome Rosner's book Helping Children Overcome Learning Disabilities helped my dtr and me alot with her auditory perceptual skill building. Listen my Children and You shall Hear by Betty Lou Kratoville has great listening building exercises to help with auditory memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemom22boys Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 (edited) You can find Straight Talk 1 & 2 here. I don't know if anyone else sells it or not. http://www.nathhan.com/straight.htm Gina Edited August 22, 2011 by onemom22boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtsmamtj Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 We have used with our son who has CAPD/LD/spectrum issues: Straight Talk 1; various things from Linguisystems (especial their HELP series) and SuperDuper; Victory Drill; Earobics and misc. brain exercises. Still looking for something to help with comprehension though - this seems to be a tough one to make progress in. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty From Ashes Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Our current SLP wrote back. I emailed her since she works for a center and they aren't great at passing on messages (you should see the note they wrote to our doctor, put it on the desk, and 10 days later I had an appointment and the note was still there). She said she had experience setting up home programs and would look into how she could do it through the center (less problems with insurance and I wouldn't have to pay up front and wait for reimbursement). She's going to get back with me and then we will go over the details to see if what she has in mind is what we are interested in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty From Ashes Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 We have used with our son who has CAPD/LD/spectrum issues: Straight Talk 1; various things from Linguisystems (especial their HELP series) and SuperDuper; Victory Drill; Earobics and misc. brain exercises. Still looking for something to help with comprehension though - this seems to be a tough one to make progress in. T YES! Comprehension seems to be huge for our son as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenncslp Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 YES! Comprehension seems to be huge for our son as well. Is it more "following directions/auditory memory" or comprehension such as, even if he's reading it he doesn't understand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty From Ashes Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Yes! Hehehe, sorry, but both. I think most of his not following directions is due to his ADHD tendencies he has with his ASD. He also can read a simple sentence and not only not tell you what it just said ("Mat sat on the cat" or even just "Mat sat"), but he doesn't even remember what the words said (would have to immediately sound out the words again) and can't tell you what it means (unless there's a picture of Mat sitting, then he might figure it out but probably not because he doesn't remember what it said). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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