Re: AVT Therapy~How long?

[Guest guest]

I don't have an answer for you as for how long a child has to do AVT.  As I

wasn't familiar with the initials, I googled it.  I see there is a lot of

information on the web, so that might be a source for you.  Also, have you

discussed this with your therapist?  Especially the limitations due to your

insurance policy?  There may be something s/he can work out with you so that

it isn't such a financial burden.  If your daughter is doing very well,

meaning that she is doing well enough to keep up with her peers, is it possible

you can do some things at home so she doesn't slide behind?  Does she know

her letters?  Does she know her numbers?  Is she able to read a little bit? 

Can you work with her at home weekly with some fun activities that won't seem

like therapy, but does provide indirect benefits to keeping her on top of her

" game " ?  Can the two of you sit with an audio book and listen and read along

out loud?  Can you record her

speech so she can hear herself to know what she needs to work on (not sure if

this is helpful for a child at this age, though).  If you can arrange to do

things like this, and continue with the 10 sessions per year so that you can

provide her with more challenging material as she gets older, I wonder if this

would be adequate?  Only your therapist would know.

When I was 5 or 6 my folks enrolled me in speech therapy, and I remember hating

them, and so I worked hard at it so I didn't have to continue doing them.  I

believe I only did therapy for 2 years - or maybe only for 1 year (folks are

gone now so I can't ask them) but I do know that looking back, I wished I had

" refresher " sessions as I was growing up, to brush up on sounds I was getting

lazy with. 

And to your question " what is the norm " ?  There is no norm, in MHO.  Every

child is different.  But there must be some " threshholds " that the therapists

measure a child against...so maybe there is something she can show you where

your child should be and where she is so that you can see what she still needs

to work on.

My insurance covered 12 week sessions of AVT after my CI surgery, and I was only

allowed two 12 week sessions.  After that I worked on my own by listening to

audiobooks, radio stations and the like.  I still have some work to do on

specific sounds, and hopefully I will make that a priority and can find someone

who is willing to work with me.    There is always room for improvement.

Just a few thoughts...I wish you all the best. 

 

________________________________

From: " Weinzapfel, A " <JWeinzap@...>

" " < >;

" cicircle " <cicircle >

Sent: Wed, January 13, 2010 8:10:09 AM

Subject: AVT Therapy~How long?

 

Hi,

My daughter is 6-1/2 and has had her implants for four years. At the moment she

is doing quite well. My husband thinks it's time to start " phasing out " of

therapy. While she is doing well right now, she IS repeating kindergarten, so a

lot of the material is review for her. Unfortunately, our insurance only covers

10 therapy visits a year, leaving us with a pretty hefty balance to pay out of

pocket. My question is, how long to most kids continue AVT? My husband is ready

to " jump ship " on this; I think it's too soon to stop. What is the " norm " ?