You’ve received a referral for therapy from your child’s doctor, you’ve noticed difficulties or delays your child is having, or you’re just not sure if your child would benefit from pediatric therapy. What do you do next? Here are 5 facts you need to know in order for you and your child to fully reap the numerous benefits of excellent pediatric therapy. 1. You get to choose your therapist or therapy clinic. Just because your referring doctor works at one organization DOES NOT mean that you have to choose that organization to provide your child’s therapy. Good pediatric clinics collaborate with doctors from all agencies and the decision of where you take your child for therapy is ultimately yours. Your child’s doctor may make a recommendation or they may leave it totally up to you. What they should not be doing (even though it is a common practice) is scheduling an evaluation with a therapy clinic without input from you about where you want that evaluation to take place. Don’t be afraid to speak up and say that you’ll schedule the evaluation and have the therapist send them the results. 2. How do you know where to go? As your child’s advocate, you should take into account any special training or areas of expertise that would benefit your child. Not all therapists and therapy clinics are created equal, that is to say, that while all pediatric therapists are licensed, they don’t all have the same experience, the same training, and the same passion for helping your child reach those milestones that you are so excited for them to reach! There are several ways to go about finding the best fit for your child including asking other parents where they have seen great results, reading reviews and testimonials, and contacting the therapy clinic to ask about their therapists and what they have to offer to meet your child’s specific needs. Don’t forget to inquire about whether they offer all areas of therapy. For example, if you start with speech therapy and it is determined that your child would also benefit from occupational or physical therapy, scheduling and obtaining those services is much easier if your child can receive all their therapies from the same clinic. The bonus here is that therapy is often a collaborative effort, and having all of your child’s therapists working together is a win. This can be accomplished between different therapy agencies (ex. you like your PT at one location but want to get speech therapy elsewhere) but it is undoubtedly much easier on you as the parent to receive therapies at the same agency. 3. Now that you’ve gotten some ideas about which clinics you’d like to check into, you should look at which one will mesh with your existing lifestyle. Doing so will take a lot of stress off of you in the long run. Here are some questions to ask yourself. Is there an option for your child to receive therapy while they are at daycare? Do they offer Telehealth (virtual visits) so that your child’s therapy doesn’t have to stop should COVID-19 flare up again? Does the therapy clinic you’ve chosen offer free screening (this is a brief observation of your child performed by the therapist to determine if a more formal assessment is appropriate)? If they screen your child and decide that therapy isn’t necessarily needed at this time will they offer you strategies you can implement at home? Do they have openings to evaluate and treat your child relatively soon? Having to wait for several weeks to start the treatment plan can be frustrating and unnecessary; a therapy clinic having immediate openings doesn’t mean they’re not good, it just means they are on top of their game and prepared! 4. Pediatric speech, occupational, and physical therapies are not just for kids with a specific diagnosis. While these cases are frequently seen by pediatric therapists, therapy can also target and improve behaviors and deficits displayed by children with no formal diagnosis. For example, therapy can correct an issue like improper speech sounds, poor balance, or lack of coordination rather quickly, and doing so can greatly benefit your child as they are preparing for school, learning to read and spell, and gaining confidence in the world around them. When in doubt, an evaluation is best. 5. Therapy should address the concerns that you have as a parent. Your child’s therapist will make a treatment plan based on their professional opinion of what your child needs help with. The fact remains, however, that nobody knows your child better than you. Your child’s therapist should be considerate of the goals you have for your child, the behaviors that you would like to see change in your child’s day to day life (in school, home, daycare), the amount of involvement you want to have in their therapy, and use that information to customize your child’s plan of care. BONUS MATERIAL! Isn’t it great to live in a world where you have so many options AND the freedom to choose which pediatric therapy clinic best meets your needs? Most importantly, parents need to be empowered to make insightful decisions concerning their child’s treatment. Sometimes circumstances change, it just isn’t a great fit, or you learn of a more specialized program and a changeup makes sense. In the case where this is true AND you have discussed it with your child’s current therapists, you as the parent should feel no guilt. Everyone involved should understand it’s not personal and should want what is best for you and your child.