Developmental Therapy

Rayleigh Bug is now receiving physical and occupational therapy from 2 different sources. One is a free, local early-intervention program called SoonerStart offered in the state of Oklahoma. The other is Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Hospital that is located as part of the Baptist medical center where her neurologist and pediatrician are both at.

Bug has been with SoonerStart since she was 7 months old. They are an in-home service that arrive weekly to work with your child on their need (physical, occupational and/or speech) for an hour. You see the same OT/PT/ST each week at the same time so your child is familiar with the person and the routine. Our OT is Stephanie and she is great. Because SoonerStart is offered free and is financed through the state they don't have as many therapists as they need so usually your OT or PT will work as both parts as your child needs. So, as Bug's OT, Stephanie's job is mainly to focus on getting Bug to activate a toy, attend to toys and people, reach for things and things of that nature. But, working both sides of things she also works on getting Bug to sit, crawl and prop. 

We had our first evaluation with Jim Thrope last week and we were pleasantly surprised! We had no idea how well Rayleigh would respond to "working" outside of the home. You see, with Jim Thrope therapy you go to their facility and it all happens in one room on playmats, swings, big toys and more. 

We met Bug's PT, Rachel, the first day and Rayleigh seriously adores her! So this past Thursday was Bug's first day of work :) She did AMAZING for Rachel. They did sitting activities, crawling position, activating and holding toys and rolling activities. 

Jim Thorpe would like to see Rayleigh Bug twice a week and we would love for her to go twice a week. Unfortunately, that is not in the cards for us right now. Jim Thorpe costs us $25 out of pocket each visit (that is after what insurance covers) AND insurance will only cover 20 visits a year. That's not even every other week :( We're feeling a little discouraged that we found this amazing place but aren't able to utilize the full potential of it. Hopefully we'll hear about TEFRA/Medicaid soon and we'll be able to go to Jim Thorpe for Bug as often as they want us and not have to worry about the money part of things!

Oh, and Rayleigh is now saying her MMMMmmmm's which includes her saying "mamama" a few times :)