Living Life in Limbo: How We’re Doing in the Time of COVID-19

One of the biggest lessons Solly has taught me is that you can’t control everything. Keeping that in mind, it’s pretty ironic that he was born to a type-A, control freak – a.k.a. me.  It took me some time to learn how to go with the flow, but five years into our parenting journey, there’s not a whole lot that ruffles my feathers anymore. That being said, when the future is in limbo, I sometimes still struggle to remain calm and unworried.

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Snuggles at home

After we moved to California, everything was very much uncertain. Other than immediately getting Solly on the waitlist for weekly therapies, I didn’t worry about anything else: I figured things would eventually fall into place. And they did – we got a coveted weekly spot at NAPA Center for Physical, Occupational, and Speech therapies, I found a very sweet and super responsive pediatrician who Solly and I love, and we were able to make a dent in setting up our medical team, having one appointment with a neurodevelopmental optometrist and scheduled appointments with a well-respected pediatric neurologist and orthopedic surgeon. We even made contact with the school district to kick-start the IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) assessment process so Solly would be set up to start kindergarten in the Fall with all appropriate supports in place.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. And, while we are all healthy and safe at home, a life in limbo became our unforeseeable future.

Here’s how we’re doing in all aspects of Solly’s life: Continue reading

Making Teletherapy a Success

Originally posted on NAPA Center’s Blog

With the ever-growing stay-at-home orders and quarantines related to COVID-19, life is weird right now. Our schedules are in limbo, our children’s lives have moved online, and as parents of special needs kiddos who already take on so much in a typical day, we’re now acting as our child’s teacher, nurse, therapist, and more, all on top of being Mom or Dad and everything else we usually do on a daily basis. We already had too much on our plates without a global pandemic: to say we’re stressed out doesn’t even begin to describe how chaotic our lives feel now.   img_2717

Fortunately, therapy help is available by way of teletherapy or telecoaching. I know what you’re going to say, “But I still have to do the hands-on work during these sessions. I’m still acting as my child’s therapist.”

Yes, that’s true. With teletherapy, you will be an active participant in your child’s session. But, that’s just one part of it. There’s so much you can gain from teletherapy that you may not have considered. Simply stated, teletherapy can make life a little bit easier when everything else seems really difficult.  Continue reading