Infant in need of PT and possibly neurologist in DC

[Anonymous]

We just had a meeting with our peditrician today about our DS who is almost 7 months old, and isn't sitting or bearing weight and can only roll in one direction. The doctor also felt he had low tonality in his lower torso and thought it would be best to see a physical therapist as well as a neurologist. We live and work in DC, and I would like to find a PT that could come to the daycare and hopefully takes insurance.

Does anyone have epxerience with DC early intervention program or a therapist willing to go to daycares that takes insurance? Also, if anyone else has had these same issues, I'd be interested to hear what worked for you.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

You might want to consider getting an appointment with a developmental pediatrician too.

[Anonymous]

We used Friendship Heights Rehab per our ped's recommendation - we didn't have them come to a daycare though, but they did take insurance and it was mostly covered. I really liked them, and have read other good things about them here, although that was probably 2 years ago now. Fwiw, my child was sent for an assessment at 4m because he wasn't lifting his head - they assessed his function as 15% of normal. Totally freaked me out, especially because he was my second and I hadn't even focused on the fact that there was a problem. He did 2x/wk PT for about 5 months and started hitting all his milestones. He technically is still considered low tone but you'd never guess it on the playground - his gross motor is all great and he doesn't need any further interventions. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Post #2--how do you find a developmental ped???

[Anonymous]

It's going to be hard to find a PT to come to daycare. PTs use a variety of equipment, from swings and harnesses and exercise balls to a variety of toys and manipulibles (is that a word?), tracks that your child can crawl down that are moved at angles to encourage crawling; mirrors so that he can see himself; supportive chairs and other supportive materials; mats; steps for climbing. It is worth your while to bring your child for weekly private PT.

[Anonymous]

My child started PT when he was 9.5 months. We used the county provided PT and at almost 10 months, he didn't need a lot of equipment. I would sign up for the DC early intervention services. I don't know what they provide, but in MC, the PT will go to the child's day care. I think it would be useful for a parent to attend every once in awhile to see the techniques the PT is getting to accomplish the skills, so the parents can help the child at other times.

You can do both private and public at the same time if you want. But see what DC will offer and go from there.

There are lots of recommendations for developmental pediatricians on this board. It can take months to get an appointment. We just called Children's Hospital and got assigned Dr. Gersh. He is not a fuzzy type of doctor, but he really knows his stuff and I like him more and more each time we see him because he is so thorough at each appointment. He reads every note (electronic) that all of my child's doctors write about him between visits so he is kept abreast of what has been happening in other departments.

We also saw the developmental area at Kennedy Kreiger and I thought the testing they gave was useful for us, but the doctor who we saw was a resident leaving in 2 months, so there was no followup. I'm sure there is a way to avoid this, but don't know what it is.