It was suggested to me, one day, that I should look into bringing Zeke to a private speech therapist because he is so behind grammatically, that the speech teacher he sees at school will not be able to have him ready for kindergarten next year. I have to say I was a little crushed at first to hear that, but God has been so amazing at putting it all together that I know it was the right call. I was told to seek extra help in September, right before Zeke started taking the bus, actually. I got a list of private speech therapists from his speech teacher, and started calling down the list. The first woman I got was not very encouraging. She said if I couldn't get our insurance to cover it (because those of us in the military know how trying TriCare can be sometimes) that it would cost $400 for an evaluation, then $150 or so a session after that. And that it would be about 4 weeks between his evaluation and his starting sessions, if she could find a spot to fit him into. So I kept calling. Eventually I got a hold of this lady, who was wonderful. She accepts our health care and said she's worked with them before so if paperwork ever starts to take too long, she'll help out. When I told her I was hoping to have someone come to our house because of the two little ones, she went online and looked to see if there were any options like that, then went on the TriCare website so see if any of those options were part of their coverage. Wow. She then told me what all she found and said that she does see kids on Saturdays and has at least one Saturday slot, but is working on getting a second one (she had a kid that was going twice a week, but really only needed to go once).
Totally enamored with this woman, I had Josh drop off all of the necessary paperwork at the clinic to get the referral process going. This is where I figured I'd have to wait forever. Josh dropped the paperwork off on a Tuesday, and on Thursday I got a call saying our paperwork had been approved and we should hear from the referral office within 7 to 10 days. The Wednesday following, I called the speech therapist and told her where things were with the paperwork, and how we were just waiting on the referral to come through. The next morning, her office called to say that they got the referral number and Zeke could start that Saturday morning! I have never seen anything involving our health insurance move that quickly. God is good. To top it all off, Zeke has been to see Miss Kathy a handful of times now, and LOVES her. He loves "speech school" just as much as regular school, and it's so great to see him so excited by it.
Look out world (and poor Finn), Zeke is on his way!
4 comments:
So glad you found someone to help! She sounds great and good for you for being proactive and hunting down a good/diligent therapist. Bodes well for Zeke's progress with her.
I think the slow insurance/referral process has a lot more to do with the doctor/doctor's office pushing the referral through. I've had similar experiences to yours, and I credit the boys' family doc (an off post guy) and the hospital receiving the referrals (Vanderbilt Children's hospital- world class). All that to say, Tricare is not that bad. They cover a lot more than I thought they would, especially with the kids.
Also, as I have yet to meet any of your beautiful boys, how does Zeke's speech compare to Deacon's? Mine are opposite, my oldest speaks wonderfully clear and always has, while my middle boy has marbles in his mouth and is more difficult to understand. Just wonder if it's weird if the younger is more understandable than the older. Of course, it's all weird, in my opinion. Kids are such a mystery!
We started with a private speech teacher this fall too. I didn't think tricare was going to pay but they did. It's been great for him. I bet it will help Zeke a lot too. Also wanted to say that I was so scared Daniel would not be ready for K when the time came. But in the last year he just really improved and was ready. Do you know what kind of K class he will be in? We were lucky in that they have a great K/1 class here for special needs.
@ KToth:
Deacon's speech is actually pretty good. He saw a therapist for about 6 months, but when he turned 3 they tested him and said his speech is exactly where it should be.
I've always figured that Zeke is Deacon's main example for everything, so as Zeke's speech improves, I always figured Deacon's would be right behind him. And it's pretty much been that way.
Plus, with knowing where Zeke's been behind, and what he has to work on, I know to listen for more things with Deacon and can correct him and help him along much more then I was able to do with Zeke.
I've heard though, that many younger siblings have bigger speech "problems" then their older siblings because their older siblings do all of the talking for them.
@ Julie:
I have no idea what sort of kindergarten Zeke will be going to. :)
yea that's wonderful!
We are working on getting some speech for Kristian...starting Nov. 1st someone recommended it to us as well...
I hope our process goes as smoothly!
Post a Comment