Medical vs Educational O.T.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2007
Medical vs Educational O.T.
3
Sat, 03-01-2008 - 3:55am
Sorry if this is too long. I have a meeting at the end of the week with my son's team and have some questions on medical vs. educational occupational therapy. Ds has been evaluated twice by private o.t. once at 7 and again last month at 9 and once by school o.t. He was denied school based o.t. at age 8. Both private reports came back the same. They indicate significant delays in sensory processing and visual motor coordination skills. The most recent o.t. told me that this was a medical o.t. evaluation and that I couldn't take it to school and ask for any services! However the report states that ds shows "poor muscle tone and upper extremity strength, poor endurance and is unable to sit upright in his chair for any length of time". It also states that while he is able to copy basic shapes, he is unable to successfully manage more complex designs, shows significant formation errors in both printed and cursive writing and requires a great deal of time to produce accurate, legible work. Formal test scores were below average. It also says that he seeks out movement activities and stopped in the middle of the evaluation to do "jumping Jacks" (he was actually stimming) before returning to his task. The school o.t. evaluated him for only 15 minutes last year and said "he constantly changes position in his chair but was able to complete the worksheet he was given and that he forms his printed letters incorrectly but that it didn't matter since they would be starting cursive writing soon". Well now it appears that he isn't forming that correctly either. My question is how can a medical evaluation state that a child is unable to sit in a chair for any length of time and has difficulty writing but it has no bearing on his education? His pediatrician felt it would be best if he received O.T. in school as well as privately but she's never had to deal with the school system so she doesn't realize how difficult getting services can be. I'd like him to at least get sensory breaks throughout the day. What is the best way to approach this?
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Sat, 03-01-2008 - 7:26am

I am not sure I can help, others here have more advocate experience.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2007
Sat, 03-01-2008 - 8:17am
One of the most frustrating aspects of this is that the school DOES recognize that he has fine motor difficulties. They allow him to do much of his writing work on the computer to avoid tantrums and have arranged for him to take his State Mastery test for writing on the computer as well because his work is far superior when he doesn't have to write by hand. In other words they are only willing to acknowledge it when it is in their own best interest. Grrrrrrrrr....
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 03-01-2008 - 10:27am

You can take the OT report to the school. They don't have to honor it in it's entirety (ie take the recommendations such as 2 times a week, etc) but they do have to consider it and it would be a piece of evidence for you.

OT can be a difficult thing to get services for in schools. OT and PT kids do have to be pretty far behind in for some reason but this does sound like a kid who would qualify in our school district for at least OT consult.

Your son may be able to get medical OT through insurance with that report as well. To qualify for OT in school it has to be significantly impacting his education.

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