Fairfax ITC, feeling overwhelmed

[Anonymous]

I just feel so overwhelmed and confused with this process. I'll start with this - is there any point in going through ITC if our costs will not exceed our monthly cap? In other words, couldn't I just hire a private therapist since I will have to pay full cost anyway?

[Anonymous]

I'm a little confused. When we did ITC, we paid the same amount to the therapists that we would have paid for an in-network provider ($15 back then). I don't know if our providers were in-network or not but I didn't pay any more than the copay. I also didn't have to take my kid to a service provider. They came to us at a time the therapists and I worked out. Also, I didn't have to pay anything for the custom orthodics DS got. ITC covered it completely!

[Anonymous]

Depends on your services. PT and OT should be covered by insurance and you'd pay your insurance co-pay, BUT only up to your cap each month. So let's say you were getting weekly PT for your child and your co-pay was $30 per visit. But if your monthly income based amount was only $100 you would only have to pay $100, not $120 ($30 x 4 visits in a month).

Services for speech and education are a little different because insurance doesn't cover "education" which is what speech/communication is at this age ... generally they won't start actual speech therapy until 3 at which point you could get it free from FCPS through child find anyway. So then you pay your family contribution amount each month. If your insurance co-pay for speech therapy is less than that, maybe it makes more sense to find private therapy. But ITC will come to your house or your child's day care and there's no trying to make appointments so you do have a lot of convenience. Our family cost share was determined to be $90, but our office visit copay for a specialist is $40. So with weekly visits from an educator for my speech delayed toddler we come out ahead with ITC vs. trying to see a private speech therapist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your services. PT and OT should be covered by insurance and you'd pay your insurance co-pay, BUT only up to your cap each month. So let's say you were getting weekly PT for your child and your co-pay was $30 per visit. But if your monthly income based amount was only $100 you would only have to pay $100, not $120 ($30 x 4 visits in a month).

Services for speech and education are a little different because insurance doesn't cover "education" which is what speech/communication is at this age ... generally they won't start actual speech therapy until 3 at which point you could get it free from FCPS through child find anyway. So then you pay your family contribution amount each month. If your insurance co-pay for speech therapy is less than that, maybe it makes more sense to find private therapy. But ITC will come to your house or your child's day care and there's no trying to make appointments so you do have a lot of convenience. Our family cost share was determined to be $90, but our office visit copay for a specialist is $40. So with weekly visits from an educator for my speech delayed toddler we come out ahead with ITC vs. trying to see a private speech therapist.

Could you elaborate on the bolded? My DS began receiving ST through ITC at age 2. It was definitely therapy and was provide by an SLP not an 'educator'. He was later diagnosed with apraxia of speech and MERLD and has been consistently receiving ST through by the school SLP and a private SLP for the last 10 years. He never saw an 'educator' for his speech/language issues.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what the PP means. My DS had speech (covered by insurance) starting at 18 months. We did ITC and private concurrently, and they were very different models. The private place worked with him (it was like I wasn't in the room). ITC worked with me, and observed me with him. Together, with both methods, we made progress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your services. PT and OT should be covered by insurance and you'd pay your insurance co-pay, BUT only up to your cap each month. So let's say you were getting weekly PT for your child and your co-pay was $30 per visit. But if your monthly income based amount was only $100 you would only have to pay $100, not $120 ($30 x 4 visits in a month).

Services for speech and education are a little different because insurance doesn't cover "education" which is what speech/communication is at this age ... generally they won't start actual speech therapy until 3 at which point you could get it free from FCPS through child find anyway. So then you pay your family contribution amount each month. If your insurance co-pay for speech therapy is less than that, maybe it makes more sense to find private therapy. But ITC will come to your house or your child's day care and there's no trying to make appointments so you do have a lot of convenience. Our family cost share was determined to be $90, but our office visit copay for a specialist is $40. So with weekly visits from an educator for my speech delayed toddler we come out ahead with ITC vs. trying to see a private speech therapist.

Could you elaborate on the bolded? My DS began receiving ST through ITC at age 2. It was definitely therapy and was provide by an SLP not an 'educator'. He was later diagnosed with apraxia of speech and MERLD and has been consistently receiving ST through by the school SLP and a private SLP for the last 10 years. He never saw an 'educator' for his speech/language issues.

Are you in Fairfax? When I started with ITC back in October with my then 14 month old for speech delays (expressive and receptive), our service coordinator said that ITC doesn't do "speech" except for rare cases, because the diagnosis of a speech delayed child under age 3 is going to be considered a "developmental delay," not a speech and language delay or apraxia. Even now that my almost 2 year old is transitioning to child find through Fairfax County schools he will still be getting "education" services through Child Find, as they don't start speech at the local schools until age 3 when different diagnoses can be made. Of course, a private therapist will give you services no matter what your child's age as long as you can pay for it.

[Anonymous]

Have you researched costs of private service providers in your area? Are they covered by insurance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your services. PT and OT should be covered by insurance and you'd pay your insurance co-pay, BUT only up to your cap each month. So let's say you were getting weekly PT for your child and your co-pay was $30 per visit. But if your monthly income based amount was only $100 you would only have to pay $100, not $120 ($30 x 4 visits in a month).

Services for speech and education are a little different because insurance doesn't cover "education" which is what speech/communication is at this age ... generally they won't start actual speech therapy until 3 at which point you could get it free from FCPS through child find anyway. So then you pay your family contribution amount each month. If your insurance co-pay for speech therapy is less than that, maybe it makes more sense to find private therapy. But ITC will come to your house or your child's day care and there's no trying to make appointments so you do have a lot of convenience. Our family cost share was determined to be $90, but our office visit copay for a specialist is $40. So with weekly visits from an educator for my speech delayed toddler we come out ahead with ITC vs. trying to see a private speech therapist.

Could you elaborate on the bolded? My DS began receiving ST through ITC at age 2. It was definitely therapy and was provide by an SLP not an 'educator'. He was later diagnosed with apraxia of speech and MERLD and has been consistently receiving ST through by the school SLP and a private SLP for the last 10 years. He never saw an 'educator' for his speech/language issues.

Are you in Fairfax? When I started with ITC back in October with my then 14 month old for speech delays (expressive and receptive), our service coordinator said that ITC doesn't do "speech" except for rare cases, because the diagnosis of a speech delayed child under age 3 is going to be considered a "developmental delay," not a speech and language delay or apraxia. Even now that my almost 2 year old is transitioning to child find through Fairfax County schools he will still be getting "education" services through Child Find, as they don't start speech at the local schools until age 3 when different diagnoses can be made. Of course, a private therapist will give you services no matter what your child's age as long as you can pay for it.

They tell people different things. If they feel like your child can be helped by an educator then they will offer that bc it is cheaper than speech therapy. They will tell you that there is some "rule" about it. If they offered parents a choice almost every parent will say that they want a speech language pathologist. That is expensive for the county- many families have low monthly caps or qualify for free services so ITC has to pay for their services. There are many SLP's employed by Fairfax ITC.

[Anonymous]

I am awaiting for a speech therapist to be assigned. They say it will be around the fall. So I have the same question as OP, because our copays for weekly sessions will be lower than my family cap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your services. PT and OT should be covered by insurance and you'd pay your insurance co-pay, BUT only up to your cap each month. So let's say you were getting weekly PT for your child and your co-pay was $30 per visit. But if your monthly income based amount was only $100 you would only have to pay $100, not $120 ($30 x 4 visits in a month).

Services for speech and education are a little different because insurance doesn't cover "education" which is what speech/communication is at this age ... generally they won't start actual speech therapy until 3 at which point you could get it free from FCPS through child find anyway. So then you pay your family contribution amount each month. If your insurance co-pay for speech therapy is less than that, maybe it makes more sense to find private therapy. But ITC will come to your house or your child's day care and there's no trying to make appointments so you do have a lot of convenience. Our family cost share was determined to be $90, but our office visit copay for a specialist is $40. So with weekly visits from an educator for my speech delayed toddler we come out ahead with ITC vs. trying to see a private speech therapist.

Could you elaborate on the bolded? My DS began receiving ST through ITC at age 2. It was definitely therapy and was provide by an SLP not an 'educator'. He was later diagnosed with apraxia of speech and MERLD and has been consistently receiving ST through by the school SLP and a private SLP for the last 10 years. He never saw an 'educator' for his speech/language issues.

Are you in Fairfax? When I started with ITC back in October with my then 14 month old for speech delays (expressive and receptive), our service coordinator said that ITC doesn't do "speech" except for rare cases, because the diagnosis of a speech delayed child under age 3 is going to be considered a "developmental delay," not a speech and language delay or apraxia. Even now that my almost 2 year old is transitioning to child find through Fairfax County schools he will still be getting "education" services through Child Find, as they don't start speech at the local schools until age 3 when different diagnoses can be made. Of course, a private therapist will give you services no matter what your child's age as long as you can pay for it.

They tell people different things. If they feel like your child can be helped by an educator then they will offer that bc it is cheaper than speech therapy. They will tell you that there is some "rule" about it. If they offered parents a choice almost every parent will say that they want a speech language pathologist. That is expensive for the county- many families have low monthly caps or qualify for free services so ITC has to pay for their services. There are many SLP's employed by Fairfax ITC.

I'm the PP that asked you to elaborate. I am in Fairfax County and we started with ITC about 9 years ago. DS was diagnosed with developmental delays that included gross motor delays greater than 25% and speech delays (don't remember what percent but he had no more than 10 intelligble words at 24 months but did have a number of environmental sounds). We got PT and ST. He received ST in our home until he transitioned to a FCPS non-cat special ed preschool when he was 2.9 yo. Once he started in the special ed preschool (which marked the transition from ITC to Child Find), we started private ST. He wasn't diagnosed with MERLD/apraxia until he was 3.

[Anonymous]

Used to work there, and don't knock the Educators. If it's not an issue with oral-motor mechanics, I'd definitely go with an Educator over an SLP for a speech delay. Of course, it depends on who you get, but the educators I worked with were amazing. SLP's mostly did feeding issues. This was a while ago, but the Educators were amazing professionals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what the PP means. My DS had speech (covered by insurance) starting at 18 months. We did ITC and private concurrently, and they were very different models. The private place worked with him (it was like I wasn't in the room). ITC worked with me, and observed me with him. Together, with both methods, we made progress.

+1. It's a different model. ITC is more of a wrap-around family model, vs. private therapists who mostly just work one-on-one with the child. In general.

[Anonymous]

OP call your Service Coordinator. They are your advocate. You can ask them these questions. We've been asked much more aggressive questions and it's all good. Don't be shy. You're not the first one confused. It's a lot to take in. Seriously. They understand.