Do I need a Care Coordinator?
The Gist
Sometimes our kids (and we!) need a team
A Care Coordinator can help you identify that team and what to do next
Read more...
We all know “it takes a village to raise a child”, but this adage is especially true if you’re parenting a child who’s having any kind of developmental challenge. No one can do it alone: not you, not your pediatrician, not your speech therapist. Growing children into their fullest selves is a team effort when everything is going smoothly. When it’s not: you need an even bigger team than usual.
If you’re at the very beginning of the journey, chances are you’ve been worried for a while about your child’s development. You might have checked in at the pediatrician and asked some questions. Some pediatricians are really savvy about referring out to specialists, and some really aren’t. If your pediatrician has said, “wait and see”, but you’re still worried, ask some more people. Seek out other professionals who might be able to help you. These might include: a developmental pediatrician, a psychologist, a pediatric speech therapist, a behavior specialist, an occupational therapist or a physical therapist. A lot of the kiddos on the caseload here at SpeechKids also get occupational therapy, for example. But often, those therapists get added in at different times as the child’s needs become clearer over time. If you’re worried about your child’s development, just start somewhere.
If your child already has a diagnosis, then they’re probably already in at least one kind of therapy. You already know that it can feel stressful to manage all the appointments, let alone the sometimes-conflicting advice you get from all the different professionals.
Your nutritionist wants your child eating this specific food, but your feeding therapist wants them eating a completely different type of food.
The occupational therapist said, “spinning is good”, but the behavior therapist said, “spinning is bad.”
Who’s right? Who’s wrong?
What does it mean for your child?
What does it mean for you?
How do you figure out whom to listen to?
How do you make good decisions about your child’s development and treatment with all the competing information?
It can be a challenge to know exactly what your child needs, and it can feel overwhelming to sort out all the information by yourself. Especially when you don’t know what you don’t know.
Sometimes you need a person who can serve as the navigator or coordinator, see the 360 degree view of your child’s care and make recommendations to you based on what they see and know. This person is a Care Coordinator or a Case Manager. Special education divisions in schools have them; hospitals have them; insurance companies sometimes have them; they can be a little hard to find in private practice. These professionals have wide-ranging experience and can make recommendations about what your child may need based on the documentation of your primary care pediatrician or other therapists.
Care Coordinators can help you figure out the next steps to take when treating your child. They can look at the whole picture of the many doctors and therapists that your child sees.
They can make sense of the seemingly-conflicting recommendations that come from your child’s evaluations and doctor’s reports, and they can help you find peace of mind in the middle of a flood of emotions and information.
If you need a Care Coordinator, reach out to an insurance provider for more information on what is available to you. A careful online search also yields results.
I always have a couple of suggestions up my sleeve as well that I’m happy to share.
All my best-
Gabriele
PS. Raising Orchids is helping parents of neurodiverse children to better understand their children while empowering them to grow, learn new skills, gain confidence and independence, while improving the family relationships.
The talented Jen Dryer and I will be hosting this 6-week class starting September 16th.
For one hour every Wednesday from 8:30 to 9:45 PM EST, we will tackle subjects such as understanding difficult behavior, encouraging and empowering your child to learn new skills supporting your child’s independence and sense of competence and troubleshooting difficult situations.
This could be your last chance to learn these new skills. To sign up, CLICK HERE.