DC early intervention is all virtual??!!?

[Anonymous]

Maybe you have a super clean home. Maybe you and your friends have a normal amount of people living in your house. Maybe your child isn't medically fragile. Many of the houses that the EI teachers go into have multiple families living under one roof in communities where there are lots of Covid. EI teachers see a variety of families living in a variety of conditions. My friends who are in EI in Arizona are just starting to go into homes and they have to dress like they are on a space mission, pretty much wearing a hazmat suit (this was mandated by their agency)- very child friendly, lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend works for EI.. They go into multiple family homes a day with multiple people, indoors, up close (the nature of their work) for 30-60 mins at a time. Completely unsafe during a pandemic.

They have made the correct call to protect their employees. And yes, they exist to teach patents, not to be direct hands on with kids. The parents who complain the loudest about virtual are the ones who want the provider to come in every week and "fix" their kid while the parent gets a "break" and does laundry or plays on their phone, which is not why the services are provided.

Go into it with an open mind, OP. A good service provider can teach you a LOT about ways to work with and help your child long term (long after they age out of EI) virtually.

Great for your friend. So our private OT does that exact same thing, in person, vaccinated and masked. Been eligible for the vaccine for more than a month. No clue what your point is. Did you do the therapy through EI? No, right? The pandemic is not an excuse to fail to fulfill a state funded program properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you have a super clean home. Maybe you and your friends have a normal amount of people living in your house. Maybe your child isn't medically fragile. Many of the houses that the EI teachers go into have multiple families living under one roof in communities where there are lots of Covid. EI teachers see a variety of families living in a variety of conditions. My friends who are in EI in Arizona are just starting to go into homes and they have to dress like they are on a space mission, pretty much wearing a hazmat suit (this was mandated by their agency)- very child friendly, lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend works for EI.. They go into multiple family homes a day with multiple people, indoors, up close (the nature of their work) for 30-60 mins at a time. Completely unsafe during a pandemic.

They have made the correct call to protect their employees. And yes, they exist to teach patents, not to be direct hands on with kids. The parents who complain the loudest about virtual are the ones who want the provider to come in every week and "fix" their kid while the parent gets a "break" and does laundry or plays on their phone, which is not why the services are provided.

Go into it with an open mind, OP. A good service provider can teach you a LOT about ways to work with and help your child long term (long after they age out of EI) virtually.

I’m not even sure how to respond, but to the extent the same agencies are also seeing patients they deem “clean” in person under private pay the discrimination is just jaw dropping.
Great for your friend. So our private OT does that exact same thing, in person, vaccinated and masked. Been eligible for the vaccine for more than a month. No clue what your point is. Did you do the therapy through EI? No, right? The pandemic is not an excuse to fail to fulfill a state funded program properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you have a super clean home. Maybe you and your friends have a normal amount of people living in your house. Maybe your child isn't medically fragile. Many of the houses that the EI teachers go into have multiple families living under one roof in communities where there are lots of Covid. EI teachers see a variety of families living in a variety of conditions. My friends who are in EI in Arizona are just starting to go into homes and they have to dress like they are on a space mission, pretty much wearing a hazmat suit (this was mandated by their agency)- very child friendly, lol.

Are you living in some kind of time loop where surface transmission is still a thing? Because otherwise all that you're saying with this point about "clean homes" is that EI therapists don't want to be around dirty poor people and that's pretty terrible. Lots of people during this pandemic have been working in risky conditions to provide essential services. It's really sad we don't consider EI services for children with developmental delays to be essential.

[Anonymous]

We started MoCo EI for a speech delay back in December. I am also taking a Hanen group speech class provided by the county. In the meantime my child was also diagnosed with ASD by a developmental physician. All virtual.
The services are very helpful but there is a big difference with the private in-person speech and ABA that we started 3 weeks ago. I do think the county service would be much more helpful if it were done face to face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you have a super clean home. Maybe you and your friends have a normal amount of people living in your house. Maybe your child isn't medically fragile. Many of the houses that the EI teachers go into have multiple families living under one roof in communities where there are lots of Covid. EI teachers see a variety of families living in a variety of conditions. My friends who are in EI in Arizona are just starting to go into homes and they have to dress like they are on a space mission, pretty much wearing a hazmat suit (this was mandated by their agency)- very child friendly, lol.

Are you living in some kind of time loop where surface transmission is still a thing? Because otherwise all that you're saying with this point about "clean homes" is that EI therapists don't want to be around dirty poor people and that's pretty terrible. Lots of people during this pandemic have been working in risky conditions to provide essential services. It's really sad we don't consider EI services for children with developmental delays to be essential.

plus, just, a billion. There is also a scientifically confirmed window for many interventions. Time is of the essence. Also, as stated upthread, these people have been vaccinated since it was possible. They also often contract out to EI, and separately work and see in person patients for pay. Its pretty horrible, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you have a super clean home. Maybe you and your friends have a normal amount of people living in your house. Maybe your child isn't medically fragile. Many of the houses that the EI teachers go into have multiple families living under one roof in communities where there are lots of Covid. EI teachers see a variety of families living in a variety of conditions. My friends who are in EI in Arizona are just starting to go into homes and they have to dress like they are on a space mission, pretty much wearing a hazmat suit (this was mandated by their agency)- very child friendly, lol.

Are you living in some kind of time loop where surface transmission is still a thing? Because otherwise all that you're saying with this point about "clean homes" is that EI therapists don't want to be around dirty poor people and that's pretty terrible. Lots of people during this pandemic have been working in risky conditions to provide essential services. It's really sad we don't consider EI services for children with developmental delays to be essential.

plus, just, a billion. There is also a scientifically confirmed window for many interventions. Time is of the essence. Also, as stated upthread, these people have been vaccinated since it was possible. They also often contract out to EI, and separately work and see in person patients for pay. Its pretty horrible, actually.

And EI isn’t even free in Virginia. It’s income based and most people pay for it, although generally less than private therapy that’s not covered by insurance. This is just like the libraries, schools, and other free or inexpensive stuff. They’re keeping it closed because they get money no matter what and the outcomes are irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty rich to say you're not willing to provide services in-person that will impact a child for the rest of their lives because you're above wearing PPE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty rich to say you're not willing to provide services in-person that will impact a child for the rest of their lives because you're above wearing PPE.

It’s gross. And to act like you should be able to work remotely as a OT or speech or PT for toddlers. Are you kidding me? It’s like teledoc visits for autism. Are you kidding me?! There are clearly jobs that cannot be done remotely. If you choose one, expect to do it in person or quit.

They gov services are frankly just seeing what they can get away with. Mcps tried to say no summer services for kids with serious needs. The money is set aside and they’ll use it. It’s illegal, they’re going to get sued, blah blah but meanwhile? Kids are suffering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you have a super clean home. Maybe you and your friends have a normal amount of people living in your house. Maybe your child isn't medically fragile. Many of the houses that the EI teachers go into have multiple families living under one roof in communities where there are lots of Covid. EI teachers see a variety of families living in a variety of conditions. My friends who are in EI in Arizona are just starting to go into homes and they have to dress like they are on a space mission, pretty much wearing a hazmat suit (this was mandated by their agency)- very child friendly, lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend works for EI.. They go into multiple family homes a day with multiple people, indoors, up close (the nature of their work) for 30-60 mins at a time. Completely unsafe during a pandemic.

They have made the correct call to protect their employees. And yes, they exist to teach patents, not to be direct hands on with kids. The parents who complain the loudest about virtual are the ones who want the provider to come in every week and "fix" their kid while the parent gets a "break" and does laundry or plays on their phone, which is not why the services are provided.

Go into it with an open mind, OP. A good service provider can teach you a LOT about ways to work with and help your child long term (long after they age out of EI) virtually.

Great for your friend. So our private OT does that exact same thing, in person, vaccinated and masked. Been eligible for the vaccine for more than a month. No clue what your point is. Did you do the therapy through EI? No, right? The pandemic is not an excuse to fail to fulfill a state funded program properly.

Ironically those are the very kids that would benefit most from in-person. The more affluent families can supplement or entirely go with private therapies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty rich to say you're not willing to provide services in-person that will impact a child for the rest of their lives because you're above wearing PPE.

It’s gross. And to act like you should be able to work remotely as a OT or speech or PT for toddlers. Are you kidding me? It’s like teledoc visits for autism. Are you kidding me?! There are clearly jobs that cannot be done remotely. If you choose one, expect to do it in person or quit.

They gov services are frankly just seeing what they can get away with. Mcps tried to say no summer services for kids with serious needs. The money is set aside and they’ll use it. It’s illegal, they’re going to get sued, blah blah but meanwhile? Kids are suffering.

+1. Kids are suffering! When I taught high school and we talked at staff mtgs about school shootings, given that I taught in a trailer with foam walls, I mentioned in passing at lunch that we’d obviously have to sacrifice ourselves to give the kids time to gtfo thru windows. Roughly half teachers immediately agreed, roughly half were appalled at risking their lives. But at some point it goes beyond job description - would you really not do anything to help a bunch of kids? That you’ve TAUGHT? Whom you care deeply about, presumably? Then get back in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty rich to say you're not willing to provide services in-person that will impact a child for the rest of their lives because you're above wearing PPE.

It’s gross. And to act like you should be able to work remotely as a OT or speech or PT for toddlers. Are you kidding me? It’s like teledoc visits for autism. Are you kidding me?! There are clearly jobs that cannot be done remotely. If you choose one, expect to do it in person or quit.

They gov services are frankly just seeing what they can get away with. Mcps tried to say no summer services for kids with serious needs. The money is set aside and they’ll use it. It’s illegal, they’re going to get sued, blah blah but meanwhile? Kids are suffering.

+1. Kids are suffering! When I taught high school and we talked at staff mtgs about school shootings, given that I taught in a trailer with foam walls, I mentioned in passing at lunch that we’d obviously have to sacrifice ourselves to give the kids time to gtfo thru windows. Roughly half teachers immediately agreed, roughly half were appalled at risking their lives. But at some point it goes beyond job description - would you really not do anything to help a bunch of kids? That you’ve TAUGHT? Whom you care deeply about, presumably? Then get back in the classroom.

Or in person, as the case may be.