Nothing.
I had no desire to put my kid through Tooele County's absolute bull***. In the past all I had ever seen were children not getting the help they needed and frustrated parents. I was frustrated enough as it was with my neurologists. Why put more people on the list?
I did not seem to have any other options though.
There were no private pediatric therapists that I could find in Utah. So, I finally decided to give them a call. Just as I expected they put me on a calling list and was told they would get back to me as soon as they could. Ha. I'm never going to be hearing from THEM.
I was pleasantly surprised.
Within three days they got back to me and set up an appointment to evaluate him. It was about a month out though, not that it surprised me, being Tooele County. The odds of them even showing up were definitely not in my favor. I figured I might as well set up therapy through Primary Children's even though they are 3-8 months out and cost my husband's left nut. Whatever, it's for Bridger! So I set up an appointment with occupational therapy through Primary in Bountiful.
I forgot all about the Early Interventions appointment.
The day before they called me and checked to make sure I would be there. Dang it I guess I will have to clean my house. Ugh. That morning I waited for a couple of Tooele County's hillbilly evaluators to show up. I had no confidence what-so-ever with them. To make matters worse Bridger had started the Vigabatrin the week before and his left hand was no longer curled and he was acting all happy. I had to have a stern talking with him and tell him that he better look sickly when these people show up!
Stop being happy dammit.
I thought that there would only be one evaluator but there were actually four! One nurse, one PT, one OT, and one counselor. They were all very professional. They even cleaned their hands before they proceeded to do all of their testing. The PT and the OT took Bridger and played with him and did lots of different playful tests. Bridger kept on looking me like he was saying "Mom! What are these crazy ladies doing?" The nurse asked me several questions and tested Bridger's physical abilities. I was really worried that Bridger was not going to qualify.
Luckily he did!
We have a PT coming twice a month to work with Bridger and teach me all of the things that I can do to help him reach the milestones that he has missed. She is really confident in Bridger. She says that he is so strong and when he is off the medication he will have the strength to bounce back. It has been really comforting to hear such positive feedback. When they read to me the goals they had for him it made me so happy. They are so confident that they can get him to play with his toes, roll over, and play with toys. I wanted to cry! It would make thrilled to see him do that.
Today was our first appointment with the PT. She came to our house and taught us simple things to do with Bridger. Many people would probably get frustrated with the simplicity of it but you have to remember that you need to build a strong foundation first. Bridger missed that step because of his seizures and the medication. So now we get to work on that. He tolerated it very well. I can't wait to see the improvements that he'll make. I can't wait for the next PT visit and to tell her, "look Bridger can do this!"
Ok, ok so I was wrong. Tooele County's Early Interventions program is actually top notch. They are kind, understanding, and explain things very well. We are very fortunate and I am glad I finally swallowed my pride and was proved very, very wrong in this situation. I highly recommend Tooele County's DDI Vantage Early Interventions Program. They are AMAZING!
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| Work it! |
| DDI VANTAGE Early Intervention 575 E 4500 S, #B210, Salt Lake City, UT 84107 (Salt Lake/Granite School Dist., Murray School Dist., Tooele, Duchesne Counties) Program Profile FFY 2011-2012 801-266-3939 |
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