Private OT

[tuppence17]

Has anyone recently paid for OT privately and if so, how much per session and how did you track down your practitioner and did you need a paed assessment before getting the private OT. At early stages of getting diagnosis and help for DS1 (4.8), so want to investigate all possibilities

I paid £500. I used the person recommended by SOS SEN She's called Jane Abdullah. She was brilliant. It was the best £500 I have spent.

We went for a private paed assessment first, referred by a private GP, and tbh it wasn't very useful as ds2 was really well behaved so the report is full of adjectives like 'mild' and even 'delightful'! However, the paed gave us a list of private paediatric OTs, so we went to one of them who was also recommended by a fried who was a SALT. I suspect we could have just gone directly to the OT if we had wanted to.

I think the initial OT assessment was about £300. It was very useful as I took the report into school with the recommendations, and they worked through it with me to see what they could do. Followup sessions are £55 for half an hour, and she doesn't do them too close together, which makes it cheaper and gives us a chance to introduce new things at home.

Watch out if you are trying to get it on health insurance, however. I had hoped that AXA-PPP would pay for it but they have come up with one or other reason why they are not paying. The last one was that I should find someone from the hospital (our OT is retired and works from home) so that they can bill AXA-PPP through the hospital. I am new to the whole insurance thing and wish I was better at playing the 'game'. In the meantime I am still taking ds2 to the same OT as he responds well to her, so I'd rather stick with her even if I have to pay.