I am gearing up for a battle. I am not sure who it is against, if it is versus Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA or if it is versus my son’s doctor’s office.
Here’s the tale.
I requested, in early 11/2012, that a referral be processed to the Occupational Therapy clinic my son was about to be evaluated at and now receives therapy through. No response as you only speak to a voicemail. Several weeks in, the clinic received no referral. Not only did I call them, I also brought over a sheet with a list of required referrals to Occupational Therapy at said clinic for 2012 and 2013, for his evaluations at Floating Hospital, etc. Everything was laid out in very specific detail. I ended up giving them this page TWICE.
Fast forward to this month. The referrals have never appeared. I call and speak to the office manager, who forwards me to the one woman who processes referrals. She hits me with “you never requested them.” I hit back with dates, times and visits on which I gave them the printed list of what he needs as I know it’s a lot. They send referrals. The referrals are for the wrong dates and wrong person. I call back. We return to the “you never told us” line. I repeat all the times I told them. I get a hang dog return call saying it’s all straightened out.
OT clinic calls me and states they got the referrals. For speech therapy. J does not begin speech therapy for a month and I had mentioned it to no one at all at this point amidst the effort to sort out the occupational therapy nonsense. I call back the woman at J’s primary care doctor. She huffs, sighs, says she’ll “figure it out”. A couple of days later I get a sing-song voice mail saying it’s all taken care of but you only get eight visits for the year, good luck and have fun!
Are you kidding me?! This child, by all recommendations, needs far more than eight visits in a calendar year!! He goes twice a week! We’ve already blown through the 8 visits and it’s not even March!
Now I have to fight someone to get this straightened and face the fact that I might have to remove J from a clinic that is amazing for him to another that might not meet all his needs quite so well. I am nauseated and frustrated at the idea of this. These women, alongside with his ABA therapists and EI case workers, have been life changing to him. This combination of team members has fit together just right. I do not want him to go somewhere he is not so well cared for and I am uneasy about our other options. For now, I am stuck in the hurry up and wait.
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Yesterday morning at the OT clinic, a boy of about 8 or 9 came into the waiting room while we awaited J’s appointment. My guy has been working hard on greeting people, which comes across like Wall-e greeting E-va for the first time. He walks up and gets a little too close, then says slowly “hiiii” with a funny little wave. There’s a warm smile to match all of this but it’s still that little alien odd. Most children either ignore him or they shrug it off and either play with or around him, no big deal. This little boy made my day and I so wish I had thought to tell his dad what a good boy he has. He said hi back to J and asked him what he was playing, then tolerated J’s staring and curiousity. He was very kind to him in his own way.
I appreciated that a great deal. Some kids just get it, and this kid was one of them.
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What happens in Parent Group doesn’t always stay in parent group. A final quip:
You haven’t lived til you’ve talked about poop charts and flame throwers in the course of the same conversation.