MY FIRST VISIT

My First Visit

There are several ways your child may be referred for speech or occupational therapy. You may have been referred by a pediatrician, teacher, or other professional. Maybe you as a caregiver suspect your child might benefit from therapy services, please give us a call to make an initial appointment. One of our staff members will be glad to discuss your concerns and assist you in determining what is necessary to begin services. In most cases, the following items are required prior to your initial appointment:

• A prescription from your pediatrician
• Completion of medical history – Patient Portal
• Your insurance information
• Any relevant medical reports/evaluations
• Review and acceptance of polices and procedures

Please feel free to use our Referral Worksheet as a guide.

If your child has previously received therapy services the following additional items may be needed:

• Any recent evaluation reports
• Your child’s most recent plan of care and/or IEP
• Progress statements/notes

Once this information is received, we will make a determination if a new evaluation will be required before therapy can begin.

Your child will most likely be evaluated on their first visit. The therapist will begin by discussing your areas of concern before beginning the assessment. They will ask additional questions regarding your child’s development, medical history, and skills or challenges you see at home. The therapist will also provide information regarding the type of standardized test used for the assessment. Testing typically lasts 60 to 90 minutes. Tasks expected during the evaluation vary based on your child’s age and areas of concern. If your child has been referred for speech concerns, they may be asked to point to pictures, answer questions, follow directions, and play with clinician. If your child has been referred for occupational therapy concerns, they may be asked to complete fine motor tasks (writing, coloring), gross motor tasks (jumping, playing catch), play with toys, or follow directions. Any feeding/swallowing evaluations will require your child to try several foods and liquids. Caregivers are given the choice to accompany their child in the therapist’s office or remain in the waiting room. However, because we want your child to have an optimum environment to demonstrate their abilities with their full attention, we request that caregivers remain in our waiting room if there are additional small children/siblings present. Additionally, should you choose to accompany your child during the evaluation, please refrain from “helping” your child by rewording the therapist’s questions as this can invalidate the test.

After your child has completed testing, the therapist will provide some preliminary results. If additional scoring time is needed, they may call you later wil final results and recommendations. The therapist will inform you whether your child qualifies and recommendations for frequency of therapy. Additionally, the therapist will provide you with ideas/strategies you can use at home to help your child and answer any final questions you may have. After frequency recommendations are completed, an office staff member will contact you to discuss scheduling. The full evaluation report will be mailed to you or provided by your therapist at your first treatment session.

If your child has been recently evaluated and a new evaluation is not deemed necessary, your child can be scheduled for therapy.