A call from the OT

She called today to see if I had the numbers she needed. I decided to face the situation and tell her how our last meeting made me feel. Interesting that she had no clue where I would get the impression she was blaming me for Amanda's delays. I repeated back her words to me and she said she did not mean it that way, she said of course she knew Amanda had only been here a short time and she would still be adjusting, BUT she never said either of those things to me when we spoke.

I am still upset with her, I realized how much so when I heard her voice today, she did say she felt bad I misunderstood her, but I did not feel that she was sincere. It seemed more of something she HAD to say but did not want to than something she actually meant. She kept telling me that I could make complaints to her supervisor, and I told her, I would prefer to speak to her and work it through between the two of us, though she seemed very reluctant to do so. Maybe deciding I was one of THOSE parents you know.

I called Child Find and our SC after talking to her the first time and both said they could not discuss Amanda with her because we did not fill out the release allowing communication between her and them. I am not certain why she needed to talk to either; our SC said it was unusual for an outside therapist to talk to her and all she gets are reports after the fact, usually from the family. She also said any communication without the release was against the law anyway.

I did get a third call back; the OT said she would send the pediatrician and me the report with her recommendations. She seemed a little less tense, less curt. It was not easy to say how she made me feel when we met, but maybe she will try harder with the next family she meets with. I do not require that they like me or become my friend, but I do demand respect and professionalism. It would be nice though, if the professionals we met up with would try to stay warm and open, some seemed so emotionally cut off.

She is recommending that Amanda have in-home therapies because new places frighten her so much. We are getting the names of feeding specialists, a neurologist, and we already have her pediatrician and her orthopedic doc. Not sure, what else she will recommend.

The issue with her request will be DDD and ALTCCS will not want to pay for therapies that essentially are the schools responsibility, but since the psychiatrist recommends Amanda stay home until next August, we cannot get school therapy unless we take Amanda in to the school, and we are back at the "New place makes her shut down" issue. The school can send someone here, BUT TUSD is hurting financially and I do not think they would spend the funds on Amanda, I do know they would not have anyone available for quite a few months, and Amanda needs help now.