Guest mominprogress Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I'm new and so grateful for your comments thus far. THANK YOU! We have been trying to help our daughter with her sensory processing issues for about 3 months now. It is going ok but we decided we needed a little more help. We were referred to a psychologist to do an assessment for the whole autism spectrum to see where she needed a little more help. The wait list is 5 months and the cost is $2,000.00 (not covered by insurance). I really feel like we need to do this but we just don't have that kind of money. Has anyone had this done before? If so, where? (I'm in UT.) How do you help your children with their sensory issues? I am so discouraged and my husband is out of town a lot. I feel like I need to make some sort of decision and then approach him, rather than say "What should we do?" because his response will be, " You're home with her and know her better. I trust your judgement." I just don't trust my own judgement right now. This is all so new to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Are you seeing an OT who specializes in SPD, complete with an OT gym? If you're not happy with local offerings for OT, you might consider something like the Star Center. that's all I can think of at the moment... how old is your dd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 What are homeschooling laws in UT? My son has HFA and Sensory Processing Disorder amongst other issues. The private testing was going to be $1,400 for the initial visit then $350 per visit after during the testing period. In Wy we are legally allowed services from the school district for free. That is who we went to for out testing. They did all kinds of IQ tests, the ADOS test and so many more I can not even begin to remember. We are getting OT services through them. If needed, he could get PT, Speech (which we are doing at home- he did qualify through them but I just didn't feel comfortable with their speech therapist- not sure why just didn't) Look into that. Do not call your local school administration building and ask because 9 times out of 10 they will just say no. They did that to us then I brought the law printed out from online and showed them. They changed their tune really fast ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 (edited) Your local public school will likely test her for you for free. Call and ask what the policy is. But they do not evaluate the "whole child." They evaluate only what services *they* would be obligated to offer her if she were in their school. In other words, if she would sit quietly in a chair and pass her subjects, they would likely find her to be "fine" regardless of the fact that she might be destroying your family and not living up to her potential. (I know that sounds harsh in regards to the public school; but it has been my experience.) Nonetheless, it might be a good start for you considering the price. Edited November 15, 2011 by Cindyg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessicaLady Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I feel like I'm the only person whose child was dx (PDD-NOS) by Neurologist. We actually had him see two different ones to get a second opinion. Neither of them acted like it was inappropriate for us to see them for diagnosis and have been really helpful. We've stuck w/ one that we liked more and he sees him every 6mos. The best part was it was only our specialty co-pay and they both did testing. Not sure what it was exactly as my son was very young when seen originally but obviously on the spectrum. Most of the questions had to be asked of us (the parents) as he was nonverbal until over age 4. He's never had any additional testing but I am confident that both Neuro. gave proper (same) dx. Perhaps this would be a good place to start? Our copay is now $50, but that price compared to the potential $2,000 is a steal if they are able to help you. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 My son was diagnosed by a psychologist in a developmental pediatrician's office at a hospital two hours from us. It was the only dev. ped.'s office in our state accepting patients, and we waited 4 months for the initial appointment, then another month for the evaluation, then another month to get the diagnostic report. It was covered by our insurance, we just had to pay our copay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Forgot to address sensory issues. He had a separate OT evaluation that diagnosed his sensory issues and receives once a week OT to address that. I called two different offices that were recommended to me. The bigger, hospital-affiliated office called me back 6 months later with a spot for an evaluation. The independent OT called me a month later for the evaluation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 My youngest is going next week for an evaluation by a developmental pediatrician who is an expert in Autism Spectrum Disorders. It is covered by our health insurance with just the normal cost-share. We put her name on the waiting list back in June and were originally supposed to see the doctor last month (so a 4 month wait) but it had to be rescheduled when the doctor got sick. The local developmental pediatrician has an 18 month (!) wait list so we ended up going to a clinic at a hospital in S.F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 My oldest was dx PDD-NOS/OCD/SPD at around 4 years of age. First it's scary and we came home and later that night cried and cried. Just want to put it out there that the feeling to get services and help and insurance and school stuff etc etc etc etc etc can totally begin to overwhelm in the beginning when all you might feel is just a desire to sit down and cry. Wanted to throw it out there that I remember that feeling all too well. We got eval from a developmental pede and then an OT as well. We go to private OT/speech at the local hospital. Our insurance covers it but I have yet to find a child psych that insurance would cover (which would really be useful for the ocd---grrr) But our OT has been amazing at helping us with so many things. We went twice a week for 3 years!! And now we're down to once a week with him showing a lot of improvement with periodic breaks from it. And we expect to be able to stop speech within a few months. Yay!! Also for sensory. I have a copy of The Out Of Sync Child Has Fun (before I owned a copy it was silly how often I interlibrary loaned that sucker) and I systematically go through it working on covering 1-3 activities a day. Some have just become integrated into our daily routine and life/homeschooling that we don't think about it. We have also seen a pediatric gastroenterologist and developmental opthamologist (your need for those may vary) I have heard that neurologists can help as well--I have wanted to see one just to get some more info. Also there are a lot of different supplements that parents have tried in differing combinations that help--if you're interested I can share what we have used and maybe some other moms on here have some "supp recipes" that help their child they could share too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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