Any good Occupational Therapy for kids ? (Austin, Pflugerville: insurance, school, special need)

[flysinger]

My 6 years old son was diagnosed with selective mutism when he was three. Although he began to speak to some friends and teacher now, he is still delayed in his social skill. His doctor recommended us one occupational therapy . However this one is not on contract with any insurance. Although insurance company offered me a long list of OT with contract, however, as OT may cover many area, it is not easy for me to filter out the one who is expert in treating kids with social skill delay.

so I may need some recommendation from the kind people on this forum.

Thanks in advance.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by flysinger

My 6 years old son was diagnosed with selective mutism when he was three. Although he began to speak to some friends and teacher now, he is still delayed in his social skill. His doctor recommended us one occupational therapy . However this one is not on contract with any insurance, so I may need some recommendation from the kind people on this forum.

Thanks in advance.

Will your insurance cover OT? Check that first, there can be age limits as well for certain services (for example our insurance only covers speech therapy up to age 5), if you have coverage, ask the insurance company for a list of providers.

If you don't have coverage many OTs will do "private pay" for a reduced rate in which case you simply pay the OT directly.

Where are you located? There are several out on Bee Caves Road and then up in RR.

[flysinger]

We are good with either Bee caves Road and RR. Our doctor recommended kidventures in bee caves road .
Thanks for reminder of the age limit, I may need to give it a check also.

[ashbeeigh]

Is the school providing OT? That should be a service they can provide, maybe not as intense as in home, but it could be an additional resource.

[flysinger]

My son has IEP and he has a special need teacher managing his case in the school. The teacher helps him to speak in the school setting. No one from school mentioned OT for him as his academic is at the top level, although he is quiet, he has friends around. However, we know he is delayed in how to communicate with friends or teachers because he has not spoken in school setting for several years.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by flysinger

My son has IEP and he has a special need teacher managing his case in the school. The teacher helps him to speak in the school setting. No one from school mentioned OT for him as his academic is at the top level, although he is quiet, he has friends around. However, we know he is delayed in how to communicate with friends or teachers because he has not spoken in school setting for several years.

Our daughter had speech therapy at school, and via her IEP they used it to also help her in social settings (which she also had major barriers). Not exactly OT, but it did seem to help noticeably.

[flysinger]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Our daughter had speech therapy at school, and via her IEP they used it to also help her in social settings (which she also had major barriers). Not exactly OT, but it did seem to help noticeably.

Thanks for the information. We asked for speech therapy from school before. But they rejected offering the service considering my son had no issue with pronunciation and speech itself. It is a little tricky for my son's case since he can speak well at home. My question is, can we ask a speech therapist just to help kid to communicate in social settings? Is it their area? Who may be the best person ?

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by flysinger

Thanks for the information. We asked for speech therapy from school before. But they rejected offering the service considering my son had no issue with pronunciation and speech itself. It is a little tricky for my son's case since he can speak well at home. My question is, can we ask a speech therapist just to help kid to communicate in social settings? Is it their area? Who may be the best person ?

That is a hard one. She had speech issues (pronunciation), which is why she had the speech therapy in the first place, so it was relatively easy to incorporate the social dialogue aspect into the normal therapy. Since you have an IEP, they can probably work the social aspect into it with the SE teacher; however, getting a specialized person to provide it may not be easily accomplished. I am NOT an expert in IEPs and the regulations around them, but I do understand that they do have to work withing a regulatory framework.

We ended up getting dyslexia help outside of the school, in addition to the assistance she got through the IEP. It was damn expensive (and not on insurance) but was very, very effective. The dyslexia teacher was a former SE teacher with AISD and helped us understand/navigate the IEP system, as well. It might be as simple (or complex) as establishing that your child's lack of social skills is impeding his learning. If it is, then it may be possible to receive more specialized help via the district.

[blakely]

I highly recommend Austin Area Speech & Language. Outstanding speech therapy with specialists that cover all sorts of speech related issues, including selective mutism. Located on Bee Cave Rd by Rollingwood.

Kidventures is down the street and skilled with OT.

[phone man]

OT Connection in Pflugerville did wonders for my son.