Adding Another Therapy Hour

Recently, I had two friends whose children got evaluated. After the evaluation both parents were told that their kids did great. Then, they both found out that their children would be adding on more therapy hours. It is heartbreaking to know that your child is doing great and making progress, but needs more therapy. This scenario has happened to both of my children. I remember going to the car afterwards both times in tears thinking one more hour…

Will my child be able to handle one more hour?

That’s one less hour of social time with their friends and one more hour of me hanging out in the waiting room.

Why do we need to do one more hour if my child is doing great and making progress?

We need to budget more money now for therapy.

Aren’t we doing enough therapy?

All my child knows is therapy!

How can I do more?

Don’t they think I am doing enough?

I know that right now is hard. Disappointment is never easy and is harder when it deals with our children. Believe me, I get it. But as therapy parents, we suck it up because we will do anything for our children. We will utilize all of our time, money, and energy on any therapy to continue to see gains.

Adding one more therapy can make a big difference in progress/ gains.

Last year, my son added an extra Physical Therapy hour. His gains this year have been remarkable. At five and a half, he learned how to skip, jump, hop on one foot, and alternate feet while climbing stairs. He learned all of this in one year because we added the extra hour. When we went in for his Kindergarten Readiness Test, he mastered all of his gross motor skills. I firmly believe that he was able to do this because he added that extra therapy hour.

My daughter added an extra hour to speech last year for feeding. She was gagging on food and having trouble with swallowing. In one year (after adding a second therapy hour) she was able to build up the muscles in her mouth which helped her be able to swallow, chew, and suck.  She made so much progress that she tested out!

Even though I was upset about adding that hour in the beginning, both times, it ended up being what my children needed to make rapid progress. I hope our story encourages you through your disappointment. I know it is not easy. It is okay to cry and get frustrated. Here is a hug, friend.