to be annoyed at Occupational Therapy

[countydurhamlass]

just before xmas had a letter from OT to say my ds had been invited to a "group" to do activities etc for his fine and gross motor skill delay. (i wont go into all his problems) They asked me to call them before 4th to tell them whether he would be attending but didnt give me a telephone number!

there is no way i can take him.

it starts at 4pm on a Tuesday for an hour, for ten weeks, it would mean having to take half a day off work unpaid, if work will allow me so i will lose money, as well as take ds out of school early. it would mean me getting two buses and a twenty-thirty minute walk after that. ds gets pains in his feet if he walks too far. there is then the travel home again walking twenty to thirty minutes and then a bus journey home. we would not get in until 6-6.30pm at the earliest. ds would literally have his tea and go to bed (bedtime is 7.30pm).

they rang me today as i hadn't been in touch (due to not having a telephone number) and i explained he wouldnt be going because of the above. she got really annoyed and aggressive because i had said no. i told her if they did it on a Friday i could go because i dont work a friday and her response was that it was a Tuesday they did it at the moment and that the only other thing they could do was a one to one with at school in school time! but then he wouldnt get the full benefit of being in a group. one of my son's many issues is that he doesnt like being in groups and is often very intimidated by it and refuses to join in or concentrate so surely one to one would be better (all the other professionals involved work on a one to one with him). She obviously has no notes on my ds and not aware of his situation and when i tried to explain she was even more aggressive. In the end she said she would have to speak to her manager and come back to me and cut our conversation short.

both my parents and my dh were in the room when i took the phone call and all could her her voice tone and commented when i hung up. i am now really really annoyed at how someone could be like this.

ds has many hospital appts (average of one/two a month) and it seems they expect us to turn up to appts when they want us to regardless of whether we work or not

AIBU to be annoyed!

YABU It's inconvenient for you but they have offered you an alternative ie in school. It would be too much to expect them to change the day/time of the session just for one person.

To be fair if your son needs this you should do all you can to make sure he gets there.

Can someone with a car not collect him from school and take him and bring him home. You appear to have family there can they not help?

They don't do hossie appointments at weekends or to suit, it is either take it when they have it or not at all.

"ds has many hospital appts (average of one/two a month) and it seems they expect us to turn up to appts when they want us to regardless of whether we work or not"

As opposed to what? I'm not sure what the alternative could be really.

its not the time or the place that bothers me so much. Some of our hospital appts are long journeys, its the fact that the lady was so horrible when i declined the invite. school as another option was only given as "its this or that" and when i said i would take the school option she tried to back out of it. if her attitude hadnt been so bad and she had actually looked at his notes which showed groups and strange places are too much for him to handle then i wouldnt have been so annoyed. If they had offered a one off appt to give me advice on things to at home i would have taken that. he doesnt really need so much input from OT, its more a case of needing advice on how we and the school can assist him. he is only slightly delayed in the things he can and cannot do.

my dh works away during the week, we need the money as i can only work part time because of the many hospital appts so he cannot help with transport and my parents cannot help.