Recommendations for ST/OT/PT in DC?

[Anonymous]

Our 3.5 yr old son was recently diagnosed with ASD and I am interested in private therapy recommendations for speech and OT/PT in DC. Maryland inside the beltway could also be doable. I think we are way too late for camp options, but would be interested in hearing about good options we could consider for next year. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

OT's in NW DC.

We did therapy for years at Sensational Kids; have had periodic assessments done at Skills on the Hill. Have heard good things re Leaps and Bounds but they didn't have appointments that worked with my DC's scheudle.

Sensational Kids Therapy (mostly OTs but one PT on staff)
www.sensationalkids-therapy.com
4400 Jenifer St NW #280
Washington, DC

Leaps and Bounds
www.leapsandboundsot.com
4906 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC

Skills on the Hill, LLC
www.skillsonthehill.com
405 8th St NE
Washington, DC

[Anonymous]

We go to Skills on the Hill for OT and have been very happy. CNMC has wonderful SLTs, and I've heard good things about their PTs. CNMC also accepts most insurance.

[Anonymous]

We've done therapy at both L&B and Sensational Kids. I recommend them both. There's also a ST therapy office that shares a waiting room with L&B but I'm blanking on the name. The kids and parents I interacted with seemed pretty happy overall with them.

Would also recommend National Speech in Bethesda. It's not too far from NW DC.

[Anonymous]

Laura Ruiz at Georgetown hospital is a wonderful physical therapist. We have been seeing her for two years. She is innovative and seems invested in her own professional development and taking courses. She gets my daughter and knows when to push her and when to go easier her. She is excellent.

[Anonymous]

Skills on the Hill is great for OT. We saw Laura at Georgetown at one point for PT and liked her too, though I found the hospital based practitioners often decreased services or exited kids well before non-hospital based practitioners would have (was our experience and that of several friends). We transitioned from GT for other reasons, but they were recommending a decrease before we did which I think would have be inappropriate (given she continued to need weekly for the next year and a half). Not universal but happened often enough it makes me wary. Also the negotiated rate was super expensive (well over $400 a session, I want to say close to $600, I could be misremembering but I know it was eye popping for the insurance allowance) - it didn't matter for us, because we were co-pay based, but it would have been a huge issue for an insurance that was co-insurance based. Also not sure if they charge facilities fees. So if you consider children's or GT, make sure you pin everyone down, insurance and provider both, on your responsibility and any extra fees they may charge. We can't see anyone at either anymore because of insurance changes (no co insurance, and less coverage of hospital outpatient, probably for this reason) and extra fees.

National speech in DC was hit or miss and tough to schedule (also not on insurances I think?). We had zero luck finding a close in speech person who could fit our schedule (basically not smack in the middle of working hours) and ended up out close to Potomac, which is horrendous travel wise. I think we would have had to go equally far out in VA - Fairfax? But if you have more flexibility on scheduling you'll have more options. Or of course if you don't need insurance to cover it.

Might be worth calling some camps, even if they started they might operate weekly or monthly or be willing to put him in mid session for longer sessions - Katherine Thomas and Skills on the Hill both have camps. I think Katherine Thomas might have done two week chunks, so you could still get in for theirs, and then Skills on the HIll probably started already, but don't know if they'd be open to adding a kid mid-session (want to say theirs was 6 or 8 weeks).

[Anonymous]

I just looked, National Speech has a camp too and they operate in two sessions and one doesn't start until July 20th, so it's just a question of space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just looked, National Speech has a camp too and they operate in two sessions and one doesn't start until July 20th, so it's just a question of space.

They are awesome!

[Anonymous]

We have been really happy with Amy Cullen at Washington Pediatric Therapy for OT: http://washingtonpediatrictherapy.com/

She comes to our house and is really patient, creative, and fun. My son started seeing her when he was 2 or 3 and is now 4.