Physical Therapy and why my husband should give me his iPad

I have had a prescription for PT from Max's neuro hanging on our bulletin board since the Fall.  In late summer he was released from OT/PT.  Before his diagnosis he could get services, after finding out it was a metabolic condition, and thus life long, he was dropped.  Our insurance was willing to pay for it if it was considered a temporary condition, like rehab after a car accident.  I was drained from my battle with the insurance over the summer and I was not up for another fight, so the script just sat there.  I would look at it and feel guilty.  I had lots of excuses, school was starting up, hmmm another trip, I should wait until we get back, oh here come the holidays.  Thankfully I had a supermom come to my aid once again, thanks Amanda.  She told me about a program through a local hospital that would offer PT and OT for a small fee if you could not get it paid for by insurance.  I got Max on the waiting list at the beginning of 2011 and just 5 weeks later I got the call! 

I am excited about this for Max, but I do move forward with hesitation.  I remember the life of constant appointments.  I remember thinking I needed a bumper sticker saying "Therapy Mom" instead of "Soccer Mom."  I remember Caroline's jealousy over so much of our time being dictated by Max's needs.  These last few months have been a nice break for all of us.  Even if during the break I felt guilty, it was still restful. 

When you are not surrounded by specialists you get to feel normal.  The snails pace progression of Max's physical skills is something that is hard for me to face.  So, not facing it sometimes helps.  I know, it is an unhealthy game my brain plays, and pointless anyway.  Max is in an early intervention school, we have a Children's Hospital appointment next week, he eats butter as if it was a major food group.  Normal, I don't think so.  So with today's call I took a deep breath.  We are headed back to the familiar world of evaluations, appointments and homework exercises. 

But at least we get to do it all without the insurance battle and this time we will do it with an iPad. (I hope)

I truly cannot say enough wonderful things about the iPad.  Both kids love it and there are so many wonderful educational apps on there for them.  It has become Max's currency (however he prefers apps like Angry Birds).  He will do almost anything if the reward is time with Ray's iPad.  Last night we had him going up and down the basement steps to earn his time.  He was so determined, it was cute to watch.  

Hopefully the iPad will make this easier on all of us.  It will be a fun diversion for Caroline during Max's appointments.  If I keep my calendar on it maybe we will never miss an appointment, and Max can play with it as a reward on the way home. 

Now the trick is convincing Ray that we need to have it at home every day instead of him taking it to work. :)