Today we officially became quitters.  Early intervention quitters, that is.  No home visit appointment this morning!

As mentioned at the start of the school year, our therapist was less than stellar.  We quickly grew weary of the uninspired weekly visits from someone who seemed to be just going through the motions.  After three weeks of seeing the same comment thrown on our paperwork, it was just enough.  A comment which was advice that was totally inapplicable to my child and if the therapist had bothered to actually take a second to talk to me I could have told her this.  Nothing in this program was at all tailored to Kailey’s needs and goals.  Every week the appointment consisted of the same bag of toys (ones which were duplicates of ours and therefore not interesting to Kailey).  The toys were rotated through with lackluster enthusiasm on the part of both Kailey and the therapist, both seemingly in a hurry to just get done with the one hour appointment.  I was stuck with the thought that while the visit wasn’t hurting, it certainly wasn’t helping either.  When we added preschool into our schedule, it was an impressive difference to work with specialized therapists (ST, OT, music therapists) that were not only enthusiastic about their work, but about helping Kailey achieve her specific goals.  It was glaringly obvious that the home therapy wasn’t cutting it.

So, after several calls to the school district and the head of the EI program, it was clear that the therapists in general have a pretty standard protocol for all kids this age and we were welcome to take it or leave it.  Everyone I talked to was impressed with the level of one-on-one private therapy Kailey is currently receiving.  I find this so…pathetic? sad? unacceptable?…as I don’t feel that a few hours a week is an “over the top” amount of therapy for children who need extra help to catch up with their peers or continue progressing with their own goals.  Yes, we are very lucky to have the means to obtain private help for Kailey.  But what about the rest of the kids?  What about the parents who don’t have the resources to know what options are available or to question whether or not their current services are providing the help their child deserves?  I just think we, as a society, can do better for our future generation.

But in the end, I can at least xhoose what is right for my child.  We decided that the resources are better spent toward a family that may not have any means to receive other help.  And we are (happily) quitters.