We've been matched!

Camden has officially been matched with a speech therapist. But it wasn't an easy process. I think I might've jinxed myself a tad by going on and on about how wonderful EI is in my last several posts. The road to getting matched with a therapist was more than a little bumpy.

So, when it's deemed that a child needs services, that child's service coordinator sends out a request for help to the agencies that they contract with. Camden's coordinator sent out a request to various speech therapists in the area and then we waited for a response. Typically, a few agencies will respond and then the parent gets to read through bios and choose the best match for their child. Typically, that's how it works. For us, not so much.

One agency responded to the request for a speech therapist for Camden. Yep- just one. The service coordinator sent me their website and info. I looked it over, hoping for the best since they were the only option. I really, really wanted to like them. I really, really tried to like them. But there was just an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach as I looked over their site: they're a brand new company (they've been in business for less than a year) and the therapist that would've been assigned to Camden just graduated from college. Like this past May. I know everyone has to start somewhere, but I was hoping for someone with at least a couple years of experience.

So I started doing some research on my own and basically turned into Camden's service coordinator myself. I  spent hours looking up various agencies in the area that take our insurance, and then checked to see if those agencies contracted with our local EI branch. Then I placed some phone calls. Within a day, I'd heard back from a fantastic, reputable agency that has an available therapist with over 11 years of (impressive) experience. They take our insurance. They are contracted with EI so we'll still get the very reduced rates. I have no idea why my service coordinator totally overlooked them.

I'm not typically a very take-charge type person. I'm a people pleaser and much more of an observer than an assertive type of person. It would've been easy for me to just resign myself to the fact that we'd have to go with the only agency that responded to our request. It would've been a lot less work for me and it would've allowed me to stay totally inside my comfort zone. But I can't stress enough how important it is to be an advocate for your child, even if speaking up isn't usually your thing (it's not mine!). Go with your gut and don't accept anything less than what you think your child deserves. Okay, I promise that's the end of my cheesy After School Special pep talk.

Camden should start his speech therapy in the next few weeks!