So talk to me about occupational therapy/portage - what are they exactly? And would ds be eligible?

[emkana]

He is slightly delayed with his development (both physical and speech), but not massively so.

I just don't know whether this is something I should apply for or whether ds doesn't fall under its criteria.

Any advice?

Ask your paediatrician. They usually head up a 'team' of physio/OT/SALT etc. Portage is Education. I think our HV got us dd's.

Don't know too much about portage but only heard good things about it.
OT has been fantastic for DS2, He had regular assessments from an early age & offered advice etc to us & pre-school & then he had the year before he started at primary in a weekly OT preschool group.
They really concentrate on the whole child, work on things like self help, social development, fine motor skills as well as seating & positioning, just making sure DS2 was sitting properly made activities so much more accessible to him. They also used Makaton as standard & helped with his language skills.

I would ask for an OT assessment, even if they don't feel he needs much support it may be good to get ds2 in the system in case nursery or school etc need any advice.

Oh Emkana,portage is a fab scheme.It is an early years education scheme for sn children.DD almost 2 was referred from our local childrens centre.Met our worker today and she is lovely.She is visiting for 1.5 hrs per week to do play with dd to encourage her development and we have an exercise to concentratre on.She was focusing on what dd COULD do in all areas of development.They are fairly flexible and she asked if I wanted it weekly/twice weekly or whatever.In our area there is also a play session at local nursery,for sn kids run by portage.nt sibs are welcome too.Well worth it

Portage was excellent for us. Their main website is here. Ds2's worker came to visit once a fortnight to help with new ideas to try out. She was also a really good go-between for the other agencies involved.

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I am still confused about the difference between Portage and OT. The OTs were keen to push special equipment, maybe they had boxes to tick off, but in terms of exercises to help with DS2's development, they only told us to encourage DS2 to lie on his side to play.

DS2 will be having his first Portage meeting in the first week of Dec and if he meets their criteria (I thought he already had?), he'll be seen once a month during term time (not starting till Jan though).

See your HV who will refer you for a formal assessment - in my borough before DS2 could be referred for any therapy (which it was obvious to anyone who saw him that he needed it) he had to have a full comprehensive assessment with a range of health professionals (they seem to be very good at assessing!)

I have some OT exercises to do with DS2, but are there any resources out there that would tell me anything about Portage and their principles? My borough won't be running any courses till September next year...

On a slightly cynical note, the difference between OT and Portage is the difference between a degree and a three day training course.

Portage is funded by education and its principle is a weekly visit, which has been diluted to fortnightly in some places. This means they can be a great shoulder to cry on, easy source of information etc.

OTs have such ridiculous waiting lists they cant possibly offer the same amount of support, and often come across as unable to give what is really needed because of that.

And no, Im not an OT, but Ive worked with great examples of both professionals, so know how good both can be.