Thank you, Therapy God.

After two months of persistent nagging, Annie started speech/oral motor therapy this weekend. She has also been approved for physical therapy after I had to essentially appeal the prior decision and ask for a PT eval. All this when, in May, the state of NY did not dispute at all the need for Annie to continue to receive an aggressive therapy plan. Yet IL disagrees and has spent the last two months putting our family in a position where we have had to push to receive comparable services. I miss NY.

I should stress that all of this occurs within the context of a group of EI coordinators who have tried their best to navigate the red tape to advocate for us along the way. But a shortage of therapists and the yards of red tape caused by cost-saving measures cause Annie to not receive services during a critical time of her development. Oy.

Her feeding therapist is a rock star. After all this wait, I was thrilled to have any services resume. To then find her to be such a balanced and talented professional was a huge relief. I am thankful to all those people who make EI work for families who need it but it sure is a road that demands incessant advocacy on behalf of the family.

I feel profoundly for those families who tire of advocating, who don't have the time, or simply don't realize that it is within their rights to push back when that initial 'no' is shared. We find a way for Annie. We always do. But what about those families who don't have the capacity to fight this uphill battle?