withdrawal of physiotherapy - angry!

[Nat1H]

My son is starting nursery in september - it specialises in Conductive Education (which has now got him walking). Our physiotherapist manager has basically told us they will withdraw services because of this. She has said we have to 'choose' whether we go down the CE route or physio route. Why should we have to choose - why can't we have both? We have combined physio and CE for the past 2 years, and they have worked perfectly well together, but now DS is of school age, we have to choose! I am certain this 'choosing' is so they can't be blamed later for withdrawing services. There is no way I am choosing between the 2 - I want both for my son. I am fully aware of how the 2 are coming from different viewpoints, but can physiotherapy be withdrawn LEGALLY from my child. Physiotherapy is also in his statement, although a number of hours is not specified - I wish I had pushed for that now!
Can anyone tell me where I stand? I am going to see my local councillor tomorrow about this (and my speech therapy) issue.

Hi Nat1H. This is exactly what happened to us, when our ds started CE nursery aged 3yo. the local hospital paed and physio had a meeting with us and told us it was withdrawing speech therapy and physiotherapy because we were doing conductive ed. in the end we moved hospital with the agreement that we had appointments with the hospital physio. So we have 2 physios. It has its problems though because the 2 physios always have opposing views on everything, and we have to choose which viewpoint to take.

Physiotherapists are split over their views over conductive education - they either love it or hate it, and it's difficult to do CE and have a local physio too. Is there a physio at the CE school? What age does the school take children, ours is for children upto 11 years. If the CE school has a physio, then it can work because the CE school physio will see your child every day.

By the way, about 2 weeks ago you asked about wheelchairs - I was on holiday so missed it. We have a fab wheelchair for our ds. Its called a kidactive. Its light, whizzy, and ds can do wheelies! That is important because you need to do wheelies to get up curbs. It's for children with good upper body control. It's so much better than the usual blade or blade plus wheelchairs you are given as standard, but the downside is that it doesn't fold down to get into cars. The backrest folds down onto the seat, and you can easily take the wheels off to store in the car. So it does fit in the boot. We insisted on one when ds got an appointment with the NHS wheelchair service. We haven't regretted it. Let me know if you want more info, I can perhaps get a photo of ds in his chair if you like (I can try anyway!) And ds wheelchair skills have improved no end since having it, the blade wheelchairs are so heavy and difficult to manoevure he didn't even try.

Hope this helps

Thanks so much for your message. Our CE school is brand new and only takes children up to the end of nursery age - DS2 is having a deferred year so gets an extra nursery year! We know all the staff, as the CE centre he has been going to for the past 2 years are all working their - it is a brand new venture for them.

We are already split between 2 hospitals - all our consultants are at Alder Hey, and our 'tertiary' care - physio, OT, SALT is at our local hospital. I have an appointment at Alder Hey tomorrow, so I might ask about physio being transferred their.

Thanks so much for the message about the wheelchair. We are actually waiting for a kidactive fixed frame chair to be delivered at the moment. we went on a wheelchair course a couple of months ago, and DS2 tried one out there. Like you said, he could do wheelies and get up kerbs etc in it. The only problem I can envisage with it is that we have had to order one with a high backrest so that we can reach the handles comfortably enough to push it until he learns how to manouvre it properly himself. I hope this doesn't hold him back too much. I am actually going to Kids up North to talk to the different reps there. We have a dog and DS2 loves taking her out for a walk. The only local place we can go is around the pond which has a stony path. His Blade is a nightmare to move, so I was leaning towards an all terrain wheelchair if we can find one - hoping to apply to charity.

Sorry it is such a long reply, but to be honest, I was amazed anybody recognised my name! Have not been on here very long, and don't quite feel part of the 'group' yet.

You have made my day!!

Hi Nat - if you do manage to find an all terrain wheelchair, then please let me know (cheeky I know!) We often go to steam rallies which are mainly based on farmers fields, so even a kidactive wheelchair has its limitations. We tried an electric wheelchair but that wasn't very successful, but we may give that another go, I can't get it into the car though because its so cumbersome,getting it up the ramps is a nightmare for me, my dh has to do it.

Good luck in finding what your ds needs. BTW, I guess you may have heard of the annual NAIDEX exhibition? This year it was at the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) in Birmingham, but it may go to other locations. It consists of companies demonstrating their aids for disabled people, including wheelchairs for children. It was free to go, and it was lovely to talk to the experts and learn about other products. At the NEC it was on in March time I think.

Don't worry about feeling a bit "new" to MN, so do I and I've been on it for about 6months now!