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[quote=Anonymous]

OP - I would step back and take notes on the helpful suggestions which have been offered and ignore those who way too much time on their hands and are useless.  I would say it is key for you to have a good  developmental pediatrician with whom all progress reports from the various therapists can be shared periodically.  In this way you will have someone who knows your daughter and can discuss with you over time how her development is going.  She is still young and you never know who exactly the therapist will be in a given area and how things might click (or not) with her.  I do think it is very important for you to meet with the therapists and have a clear idea of her present goals and the strategies being used so you and DH can also follow-up using the same approaches at home.  And, it is important that DH be involved with your daughter's therapy, too, since all too often it is the Mom who takes it on plus her full-time job and other responsibilities.

A suggestion is that if the therapists go to day care, be sure that they take the time to show the teachers what to do as it may be appropriate in the classroom setting.  My daughter who is a pediatric PT happened to drop off her two at day care the other day and somehow one of the teachers asked her a question about a child who was just starting to walk with a push toy - how to help him do it as her son is off the charts at 17 months motorically - not realizing she was a PT.  When she told them a couple of ideas and said her background, they said a therapist does come to work with him - BUT never has shown them what to do.  It is important that working with your child directly AND involving teaching staff as appropriate be a part of helping her to move along.

Our daughter has a cognitive disability, but something told me to "front load" the therapies when she was young, and we kept her out an extra year before starting to public kindergarten at age 6.  This did work to her benefit, but not always appropriate.  I think if you have the time to search for a Nanny or part-time sitter, you might put your feelers out to see who might respond as you never know in the DC area.  I do know there is a sitter list at American and Marymount University also has one, but not sure out active it is called "Bernie's List.  Also remember that nothing needs to be written in stone.  If you start with the school based therapies and make arrangements that work for your family, then revisit maybe at the end of the first school quarter or mid-year when  you will see the progress she is making.  If you see that the deficits in one area are not coming along as well as others, then you might add in private therapy in one area and maybe readjust how your time is going to be used.

Sometimes you can't have everything you would like professionally and personally.  Another of our daughter's had a serious cancer in her late 20s and needs the government insurance and the flexibility that a GS-15 level allows her, but she does find her job very boring at times and really would like the aspect of the private sector in many ways.  On the other end there are also young children who need Mom and also balancing mental health stress issues.  She has had to make peace with what she might like to do and what is realistic for her to do given this stage in life and even overall in her career, but it did take time.  And, it may not be forever.  Just do involve DH so it does not become 'your DD", but "Our DD" as well as other siblings, and this means working out arrangements that work for your family on therapies, child care,  house work, etc. etc.

Ignore the snarky types.[/quote]

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