Is this typical? (New to EI)

My 10 month old has been getting EI services through St. Charles since mid June, so a little over a month now. She gets PT, Special Instruction, and Speech.

Her speech therapist cancelled a few times and then I had to cancel a couple of times because the baby had bronchitis. Then I found out almost 2 weeks ago that she quit! The adviser person said she's looking for a replacement but it's difficult to find someone who does feeding therapy, which is what DD needs. When I found this out, I mentioned to the adviser that DD had speech/feeding therapy prior to EI and her former therapist does EI through another agency. It's been almost 2 weeks and I haven't heard anything. Meanwhile DD is now nearly 11 months old and hasn't had speech in abput 4 weeks and this poor kid hasn't started solids because we were waiting for the ok from the therapist... but then she bailed.

Does it normally take this long to find a new therapist? This whole EI process is so frustrating. It was so much easier when we were getting in home therapy services before EI took effect. She's already so developmentally delayed and this is a huge setback. I almost want to look into privately hiring a therapist.

Also I'm not too thrilled with the way the adviser is handling things (she said she would call periodically to check in but has only called once) and the Special Instructor is kind of a flake. If we were to switch agencies, is that a major PITA? I do like DD's PT and would like her to continue. Would that be possible if we switched agencies?

Re: Is this typical? (New to EI)

If you are unhappy you should definitely switch agencies. Call the County EIOD (person who ran your meeting from the county). Tell her what has been going on and say that you would like to switch agencies.

Is this typical? (New to EI)

Be persistent. Don't be afraid to say how you feel. Ask questions. I don't have a lot of experience with EI, but you always have to be on top of things. I'm in nassau so I'm not as familiar with agencies in Suffolk.

4 weeks without speech is a big deal. I think that it is summer makes things move slowly. It is hard to find some comfortable with feeding therapy. Just curious, why do you need the okay to start solids? Is there a swallowing issue?

Is this typical? (New to EI)

Sorry you're dealing with this. I would switch considering you have a long road ahead and it seems you need a more proactive ongoing coordinator. With dd1, the ongoing coordinator stunk. She just yessed me and never followed through on anything. I should have switched. We did go through a few therapist changes for scheduling reasons but the agency always lined up a new person in advance.

With dd2, I made a point to say I wanted a better ongoing coordinator. She called once before therapy had even started and I never heard from her again. We only got services for 6 months but she never called to check in once although I never reached out bc dd progressed well despite a ridiculous amount of cancellations by her therapist.

Re: Is this typical? (New to EI)

Yes I have had some not so pleasant experiences with EI. Took my son months to start OT since there were no OT's available (supposedly they looked at other agencies too), therapists would often cancel, one time one of his therapists just like, forgot she was supposed to come over lol.... my son is on the spectrum so he got ABA therapy, his lead ABA therapist who only came once a week would cancel all of the time, it was so frustrating.... at one point my EI service coordinator slacked off because she knew she was quitting so I had no one to go to with regards to questions and stuff... When my son moved to a center based program at age 2, and got all of his therapy done there, it was a lot less stress on everyone.

Is this typical? (New to EI)

I honestly think it depends on where you live, who is available and how persistent your coordinator it. Where I live there is a huge therapist shortage. I have been waiting for a PT since November(!) so I have been using a private therapist. It really sucks... Like we really need the additional stress of trying to find someone!

Re: Is this typical? (New to EI)

Is this typical? (New to EI)

Finding our speech therapist was the worst. We had to "fire" about 3 of them and then had to wait weeks to find new ones. You do not have to only use one agency. Change agencies or contact your county coordinator to see if they can do something.

Is this typical? (New to EI)

I left a message for the adviser/coordinator. We'll see what happens when she calls back. Thanks!

Re: Is this typical? (New to EI)

Re: Is this typical? (New to EI)

Posted by MrsB12614

Posted by ElizaRags35

I left a message for the adviser/coordinator. We'll see what happens when she calls back. Thanks!

Unfortunately it's common it's not right at all. I work in EI and so many colleagues just don't care Keep being persistent with the EIOD.
If you want to pay privately I can ask around at work. Let me know! So sorry your dealing with this