Have to wait for portage

[proudmum74]

Hi

My DD is 2 months old and has Down's; we've just learnt that due to staff shortage in the area we have to wait for 4 months before seeing anyone from portage, is this normal? I'm new to the system so I'm not sure whether this delay is likely to have any negative impact on her development, does anyone know what they do in the early months? and what we can be doing in the meantime in terms of exercises etc. that can help her whilst we wait?

thanks!

We had to wait about 10 weeks form referral for an initial visit from Portage, then another couple of months for regular visits. Like other services, they're way overstretched in some areas.

OK, thanks. She was refered when she was one week old, but will be almost 6 months old by the time we have our initial portage visit.

Ds is now two and has Down's syndrome....he was on the waiting list for portage for nearly a year!! We were offered a place at a portage playgroup first due to the waiting list being so huge and ds finally started his weekly portage at around 17 months.

Before this we just had advice on activities and exercises from our learning disability nurse. I also took ds to baby massage and baby yoga and they both really helped with his muscle tone.

When ds was little we got some really good dvd's from Downsed that give parents ideas on how to help with their babies development. Downsed are also a really good resource for speech and language development in babies and children with DS.

downsed

Maybe worth asking portage if they run a SN playgroup, mine was run at the local children's centre.

DD1 was on the portage waiting list for 9 months. We did have an initial visit after a few months, just to say 'hi'.

By the time she was at the top of the waiting list, she didn't qualify for weekly home portage, because she was at preschool for 5 sessions per week.

Portage outreach (visits to preschool once per half term) have been absolutely vital to DD1.

Hi Proudmum, There is a National shortage of portage teachers. Have you considered becoming a volunteer teacher yourself. Courses generally last a short time and the cost varies from region to region. Try the following site portage.org.uk. Best wishes