The nightmare turned happy day

This is not a religious picture. This is a picture of a parent who, like me, has to fight and scream and pull hair and beg and threaten VERY BAD THINGS in order to get therapies for their child with my county's early intervention people. This is a picture of someone who also has the same case coordinator, who SAYS she's working on it and passing along messages, until you find out.....she doesn't. This is a picture of a parent on the brink of surrender.THIS is a parent who asked a friend to come over and babysit for an hour so they could go far, far away and scream with frustration, anger and disbelief. I would say this is a picture of me, only it really isn't... but it's darn close!

Since last fall we have been trying to get Logan's OT back. Our OT quit, and early intervention just never felt the urge to give us another one. And so, last week, I had had enough. ENOUGH! I sat this woman down, and laid it out. I made several good points, which I had carefully thought about, and made notes on, before she arrived.

• If *I* were the one refusing services like early intervention is, *I* could be charged with child abuse, on grounds of medical neglect. It's a fact. I could go to jail if I were charged.
• Messages regarding the lack of OT were never passed on. Not even once.
• phone calls and emails to the director of early intervention had no results, and in fact, the director told me that I would have to apply for SSI for Logan before I could have OT for him through early intervention. Then another time, she told me I would have to get a referral to another agency and be evaluated by a pediatric neurologist before OT could be approved. Yet another time, she told me Logan needed a hearing test first, though he had already had one and it was in his file.
• Early intervention told me I would have to complete yet another evaluation, given by INTERNS, to determine whether Logan really needed OT, because the belief was that  I  was just trying to get services that were not appropriate.

So, I sat our lovely case coordinator down last week and laid down the law. I told her if I did not have contact from their OT, or an outsourced OT by Friday, the 27th, I would file child abuse charges and hire an attorney. On Monday, oh wonder of wonders, I got a phone call from Krista. And guess what?!?! She's an OT. For early intervention. She will start with him in February

I am more than thrilled. I am ecstatic. But I still don't understand. Why did it have to go this far? Why? Months and months and months of begging and pleading and fighting and finally, the threat of an attorney? Months of tears, watching Logan regress, with a case coordinator crying alongside me, who then went back to her office and did nothing.