Just because Nyle (V's O.T.) and I were impressed by the facility and founder of Fitness for Health, didn't mean that V would feel the same. The only way to decide if the center would be a good fit for V was to take her there to work on the equipment with the FFH trainer that would be working with her as a client. Today we did that. I was hoping that Nyle could join us, but her schedule didn't allow her to be present again, but since we had left her evaluation with Marc when we went for the first visit together, they were prepared.
The timing of the visit was not ideal because they had several other children there who were very active, loud, and dealing with emotions... all issues that could have caused behavioral issues with V. She handled the sensory load pretty well. First, she saw a bag that someone had left on the trampoline, grabbed it and looked inside and found food. Uh Oh. Food obsession triggered. It was tricky getting it away and out of site, and required that one of her own snacks be retrieved from the car and brought in for her. Time was lost to snacking. Now they know not to have food laying around when she comes again. We went first to the the larger of the two rooms that use a black light and floor lights to make equipment glow in the dark. V surprised us all by kicking around the glowing soccer ball. I didn't know she could or would kick a ball, so that was good to see. The balloon caused a little sensory overload and V needed to sit down and collect herself before continuing. Then we went into the main room with the rock wall and 30 foot long trampoline. She walked with me over several long, 10 inch thick floor mats that made for a nice, unsteady surface. Good. Walking on unstable surfaces is one of her OT tasks to work on her balance. She walked on the trampoline. Good again. We tried out the equipment that required her to tap on various lights to put them out and involved bending, stretching across, and stretching up, along with visual and auditory tracking. At first we motivated her to tap the lights with stickers, but soon she became so engaged with the activity and the verbal praise that everyone was giving her, that she forgot about the stickers and only cared about finding and tapping the lights. For a first visit, she engaged quickly in each activity presented and experienced fun and success. She was in no hurry when it was time to go, and turned back around to the tire swing and crawled into it, hanging on it, smiling happily.
My decision was made. I can see that she can make progress on her goals at this place, where the staff are patient, skilled and understanding, the activities are motivating and fun. The staff agreed that she could benefit from the activities that they have to offer. Now I have to write it into the plan of care and budget for the new fiscal year, and justify it well with the O.T. evaluation and goals. I am crossing my fingers that it will be approved.
