If you work as a therapist in a school…

flowerpower

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 7:56 pm

This is a gentle reminder. If you want mishloach manos from students then now is the time to call the mothers and update them on their kids progress…. My dd has an ivrei tutor courtesy of the school and I have yet to hear from her this year- either via note or phone call. I’d love to show appreciation but if she is incognito then she should not expect anything

amother

Glitter

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:03 pm

flowerpower wrote:

A parent should send regardless of if the therapist touches base or not.
Do you know what its like to make 15 separate lesson plans, photocopy lessons, HW, send home binders and notebooks, talk to teachers, do IEPs, update progress reports, and talk to parents? They dont pay us enough

(I speak to parents biweekly and send home notes after every session. Im just being devils advocate for therapists that dont touch base as often...)

flowerpower

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:05 pm

First of all- many therapists do it during the childs time. They take 5 minutes off.. second of all- if I don’t even know the persons name because she never introduced herself or wrote even one note then I won’t send. Third of all- I never got binders, homework, or anything of that sort

amother

Glitter

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:09 pm

flowerpower wrote:

What do you mean they take 5 minutes off? Are you there during the session?

Its illegal for a therapist to start without calling you for prior consent. Not sure what agency your therapists are through but I cant service a child until I call parents and introduce myself.

Your therapist isnt obligated to send home HW. Or spend her own money to send home binders or HW. We are paid to conduct therapy in school. Its an extra if you have a therapist that goes above and beyond and sends HW

amother

Olive

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:11 pm

Sorry, I have 25 students on my caseload. I'm not making phone calls. I don't have time. If it means I don't get any MM, then so be it. Dont worry, I will still spend money to give your dd a cute MM.
I work a full school day, plus I do extra sessions in the evening and on sundays, because I don't make enough money working just during the school day.
I also spend hours of my own time preparing for sessions, writing session notes, quarterly reports and annual reports, and doing invoicing paperwork. Oh, I also have my own kids who I want to give some attention to. So yeah, I don't have a free minute for phone calls

I'm also curious if the same logic applies to teachers? Will you only give them MM if they call? Other than 5 minutes at pta, I never receive calls from teachers. It would never dawn on me to to withhold MM because of it. And I give my children's therapists whether they call or not.

amother

Olive

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:17 pm

flowerpower wrote:

I never heard of therapists calling during session time. And I've had parents keep me on the phone for a lot longer than 5 minutes...some keep me on for like 20-25 minutes.
I always call to introduce myself in the beginning of the year. I'm not allowed to start if I don't make that initial phone call.
And no I don't give homework. As it is, I need to prepare for a minimum of 12 sessions a day. I simply don't have time to prepare for sessions+ additional homework assignments.
Try to step out of your box a little and see it from the therapist's perspective. It's a very, very hard job. We have huge caseloads, we work long, hard days and we have a million responsibilities. You cannot imagine how overwhelming it is to stay on top of all of it.

flowerpower

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:20 pm

If you home send zero notes or make zero phone calls an entire school year then I would not be impressed. I think it’s important that mom snd therapist communicate at least 1-2 times a year. How exactly do you know what needs to be worked on?!

amother

Glitter

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:24 pm

flowerpower wrote:

Respectfully, its ok if you're not impressed, the therapist is there to do her job. I understand your frustration that the therapist should reach out. Again im trying to be devils advocate here.

Also, from our clinical POV we are able to see things that need to be addressed/deficits that have to be worked on. Wether thats through formal testing using standardized tests, speaking to teachers, taking data...
Parents dont always know what to look out for

flowerpower

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:29 pm

amother Glitter wrote:

Well, I have one child that gets extra help. All of her/his therapists contact me 2-4 times a year. It is super helpful. There are things I told them dd/ds needs help with that they did not know about. Communication is 🔑

ra_mom

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:30 pm

amother Glitter wrote:

Do you realize that flowerpower is a provider herself?

amother

Olive

Sat, Feb 04 2023, 8:37 pm

ra_mom wrote:

Do you realize that flowerpower is a provider herself?

I did not know that. Flowerpower, what kind of provider are you?
There is a big difference between p3/seit and related services. P3 often have much smaller caseloads because each student gets so many hours. It's easier to find time to make phone calls when you only have 7-8 students. Also your paperwork is less. For example you are writing much less annual reports than speech/ot.
Speech/ot often have more than 25+ students.

amother

Burntblack

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 2:21 pm

Well, here are my thoughts:

Give it up therapists! You ain't getting a MM from me! I am paying you $160/hour. That should do just fine. And if it don't, too freakin' bad.

Does the insanity ever end...

amother

Ghostwhite

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 2:36 pm

amother Glitter wrote:

And sometimes the therapist has no idea what the core issue is. A proper history is vital. My daughter has a speech impediment. The cause is not a usual one. When I bring it to the attention of the school therapists, they've almost always tweaked their approach accordingly.

There's so much lost in just reading paper. How do you do your job without getting a proper history?

amother

Burgundy

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 2:55 pm

As a therapist I tell parents to feel free to contact me when they want to, for progress updates. Parents love to say the therapist should call them to update them, because it puts the responsibility on the therapist. When I give my number and say feel free to call me at any point to discuss your child's progress, all of a sudden they don't care so much. And yes, I reach out to my child's therapist and don't put onus on them to update me. If a parent really cares how the child is doing and really wants the carryover activities they can reach out to the therapist. (I am specifically talking about in nyc where Parents don't pay for services and therapists have big caseload and don't get paid too well).

amother

Wine

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 3:07 pm

amother Glitter wrote:

And some providers/teachers think they know better than parents.
The kid could be representing differently in different settings. Because maybe the parents have a system that works but the teachers refuse to listen so it never gets implemented and the kid has issues all year.
And if you never communicate with the parents, how do they possibly know what to work on? How to help build skills? No provider is that good to "cure" a kid in 30 minutes once a week. You need Followup and follow through. Should X be focused on? Y?
Talking from the perspective as both a parent of a kid with different needs and someone who works in the helping profession as a licensed provider. I ask everyone for their input. Communication is the only way for the kid to get optimum results.

bsy

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 3:19 pm

amother Burntblack wrote:

In NYC, parents don't pay a dime for therapy in schools. And therapists are making under 70 an hour.....

amother

Olive

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 3:22 pm

amother Burntblack wrote:

Lol I don't get a penny from the parents. And I make less than half of 160 an hour. The average rate here is 65 an hour.

amother

Olive

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 3:24 pm

amother Burgundy wrote:

This exactly. I call every parent before starting therapy and ask them what they would like me to work on. Then I tell them to save my number and call/text whenever they want. Some do and I am happy to respond. But most don't....so I guess contact isn't all that important to them