OT EVAL Brooklyn where to go?

bookie

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 12:00 pm

Over age five is referred to as CSE. For that age you need to send a letter that you wrote to your district in the department of education asking for the child to be evaluated giving your reasons why you think your child needs,

cnc

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 12:05 pm

bookie wrote:

Right.
Sorry if I wasn't clear. You need to submit a request for AN EVALUATION.
The quickest way to speed up the process is by going down to the DOE and hand delivering the letter.

bookie

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 12:36 pm

amother wrote:

You're all speaking foreign language to me!
Is this a service covered by insurance at all?
Where do I go for BOE?
I thought there are facilities (yeled, step by step, etc) where I need to register?

Insurance might cover some sessions but if you are approved by the dept of ed then it's better to go through them. You can call one of the facilities and ask them how to start, but you need to go directly through the dept of ed. It;s a whole process. Your child first needs to be evaluated by a psychologist and then the ot.

cnc

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 12:40 pm

amother wrote:

You're all speaking foreign language to me!
Is this a service covered by insurance at all?
Where do I go for BOE?
I thought there are facilities (yeled, step by step, etc) where I need to register?

Okay sorry I'll backtrack. You have 2 options.
Option 1: get evaluated through the DOE. If you tell me what school your child is in I can tell you what district you're in. I assume since you live in BP the DOE in your district is at 419 86th street. You go down and hand in a letter requesting an evaluation and stating why you think your child can benefit from OT. A letter from the teacher may help. Then you wait a coupled of months until the child gets evaluated. If approved, you will either be assigned an RSA which you can bring to any agency (Yeled, Omni etc...) to be filled, or you will be assigned a specific agency.

Option 2:
Go directly to a center (Kids In Shape for example) after verifying that your insurance covers OT and your child will receive OT based on the concerns that you mentions to an OT there.

cnc

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 2:11 pm

amother wrote:

Thank you so much everybody, you're saving my sanity!

CnC I have a ques- why would I go thru BOE if you say I can go to a facility and have my insurance cover? It just seems so much simpler.

You can. I did it for one of my children.
However, when a child is evaluated throught the DOE an IEP is written up detailing the child's strengths, weaknesses and goals. Basically you're getting a more accurate description of what exactly the issues are, and you may do a better job of targeting the issues.. For another onenof my children this was very important as he has many issues and gets other services as well.

cnc

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 2:47 pm

amother wrote:

Thank you everyone.
Can anyone direct me to a therapy center in BP?
Who is best to work with?
Who has good therapists?
I'd like to start with a call and see what's involved.

It's almost December so you may have a very hard time getting a slot that will work with your schedule, but try your luck.

Kids In Shape
Yeled Vyalda
Balancing Act
Pathways

octopus

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 7:17 pm

Some pros and cons for insurance vs DOE route :If you go through insurance you will need a prescription from a doctor. Depending on your insurance, it will be a limited amount of sessions. The process is quick and child can usually get therapy right away.

OTOH, OT through the DOE is either once or twice a week for the whole school year. No insurance is going to give you that many sessions. However, the whole process is much longer. It could easily be a 6 month process until your child is approved for OT.

So depending on your child's needs (long term vs short term therapy), and whether you want a school-based service or not (many OTs will go down to school- it's worth it to find out if your school has an OT), will determine what avenue you should pursue.

seeker

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 7:21 pm

octopus wrote:

You're not guaranteed approval but either way the doe needs to come up with a conclusion waaaay before 6 months. I think they have 30 business days from the time of your letter. Have the teachers wrote a letter as well explaining how the issues cause problems in school.

cnc

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 7:23 pm

octopus wrote:

Not necessarily.
I've been doing it through insurance for two years so far. Initial prescription covers 12 sessions and then you request more sessions which are always granted. My insurance covers unlimited sessions but I guess it depends on the specific insurance.

Also, you mentioned that the child is very touchy feely. Chances are that he needs a center. OTs in school usually work more on motor skills becauee they're somewhat limited with the equipment that they can lug around.

cnc

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 7:26 pm

seeker wrote:

Go fight city hall. The process took way over six months for one of my kids from requesting an evaluation until they were actually placed with a therapist, and I'm not a rare case.
That is the reason that I decided to go through insurance this time around.

Leahh

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 9:53 pm

In order to get services through the DOE you must show that whatever the issue is, is negatively effecting the child. So when you write the letter specify what's going on in school and that he's not keeping up with his class...
If you have child health plus or Medicaid you won't be able to get OT through insurance.

amother

Coral

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 10:43 pm

Leahh wrote:

My child gets unlimited OT sessions through united healthcare community plan / americhoice (medicaid).

goforit

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 10:51 pm

amother wrote:

My child gets unlimited OT sessions through united healthcare community plan / americhoice (medicaid).

You can do both. First go through the insurance and meanwhile work on getting services through the Board of Ed. You can also call agudah, they guide you threw the the boe process. 2127979000.