Vent and getting on the same page

[Josiegirl]

My little just-turned-3 dcg has been receiving speech therapy from children's services and it was working out great. She was easy to reach in case I needed to cancel the appointment, etc. Then dcg turned 3 so now we have to go through the school district. The 1 hour session has turned into 2 half hour sessions by 2 different people and that's all okay.

However, the 1st appt. was this past Monday, for 10, lady shows up at 11(we were going to have lunch around 11:15). I discussed with her 11 wouldn't work so well. Then yesterday the 2nd lady was scheduled for 10:30 so we try to plan our schedule around her arrival. We had just gotten all dressed for snow play, were outside sliding when there's a knock on the gate. It was her. At 9:30. I'm thinking WTH. I was ticked.
I told her I wasn't sure this was going to work. She got all defensive kind of, saying well, we have 50 kids in the program we have to visit and try our best to.....I don't care lady, you want to visit during daycare hours you're going to have to give me a time and stick to it(I didn't say anything but am thinking all this).

She called back later and asked if being the 1st of the day would work better, at 8:30. I said YES that would be great!

Now we shall see what this next week brings. I understand their position. I really do. But they better understand mine too.

[daycarediva]

I went through this with my own son while doing dc and then a dc child. Same issues. I gave them two time frames that worked for me (8:30-10) and (2:30-4)

and they came in between those hours, I just asked that they give me a quick call as they were on their way over so that we could plan our activities. Worked well for me.

[AuntTami]

My 4 year old DCG has speech twice a week through the school. She has the same therapist every time and she comes at the same time 2:45-3:15 each day she comes.

Is it possible to suggest a later in the day appointment? I've modified nap time so that my littles are sleeping during her therapy. She still naps but only for about an hour so I get her up for speech if she's not already awake, and everyone else stays asleep so they're not interrupting or distracting her.

[Unregistered]

I think you just have an unprofessional therapist. I used to be a developmental therapist and worked with a full caseload of clients in their homes. I worked with each client for one hour a week and had to have the parents sign off on it. Juggling my available times and the families available times was a challenge, but part of the job. A therapist who is consistently showing up at random times that were not previously agreed upon and not calling is not being professional. Blaming her caseload on her lack of time management skills is a red flag, too. Maybe you could discuss it with the parents, and they could choose another therapist?

[Josiegirl]

I think you just have an unprofessional therapist. I used to be a developmental therapist and worked with a full caseload of clients in their homes. I worked with each client for one hour a week and had to have the parents sign off on it. Juggling my available times and the families available times was a challenge, but part of the job. A therapist who is consistently showing up at random times that were not previously agreed upon and not calling is not being professional. Blaming her caseload on her lack of time management skills is a red flag, too. Maybe you could discuss it with the parents, and they could choose another therapist?

These people come with the school. The 1st mismanaged appt. was because the person who came was told to show up at 11:00, then I showed her the note that said 10:00. She was baffled. The lady who came Friday is in charge and her reason for being an hr. early was due to cancellations because of the weather, which I understood. It was crappy out. But I had no clue until she showed up at my gate. What, no phone??
Like I said, this week will tell. The 8:30 appts. will actually work out much better, all I have to do is make sure she's fed and that should be fine. My kiddos don't sleep all that well so if I scheduled it for quiet time, that wouldn't work out at all.

[Annalee]

I think I have posted this a while back about the O/T specialist who wanted to come to my home for an autisitic child but she didn't want to cooperate with timing. It is a fine line so licensing told me to be careful and I met with the o/t therapist listing a couple times she could come....they ended up doing the therapy at grandmas home...he only come 3 days a week so I found it odd that they always wanted to do it at my home but it had to do with the dad not accepting the child needed the therapy. Licensing said i was obligated to offer a time, but not necessarily to allow them to change schedules to cause disruption to my day plus this was to take place indefinitely....Like I said, there is a fine line so be careful. Be open in your communication with the family. Hopefully this will all work our to your favor. Good luck!