New Clients
What to expect and how to prepare for your first visit
Whether you have concerns or your physician has made a referral for therapy services, hearing that your child is in need of therapy services can be a scary thought. You may begin asking yourself many questions. What will this mean for my child’s future? How can I help my child improve? What type of services will be most beneficial for my child?
Here at Orange Pediatric Therapy, our staff is dedicated to improving the well-being of every child we treat. We take a family centered approach to treatment so that all members involved in that child’s care can be involved in the growth and development of his or her skills. From the very first phone call to the final therapy session, we do our very best to ensure that you and your child feel comfortable in the hands of our skilled clinicians.
Our office staff will work closely with your family throughout the course of treatment to accommodate a range of scheduling needs and answer insurance questions and billing related inquiries.
New client forms
To assist you with getting the most out of your first visit with us in a timely fashion, please complete all the tasks below:
- Insurance Information – Please bring your membership card with you.
- New Client Medical Form
– This form will provide us important information regarding your child’s developmental and medical history. Please print and fill out. - Notice of Privacy Practices – This form educates you on how we comply with healthcare and government regulation to protect your privacy. Please print and read.
- Acknowledgement of Notice of Privacy Practices – This form provides us acknowledgement that you’ve read and understand our privacy practices. Please print and fill out.
- Feeding Questionnaire – For families looking to have their child’s feeding skills evaluated, this will provide the therapist(s) with relevant background information to assist them in completing your child’s evaluation. This will need to be reviewed before scheduling the Feeding Evaluation. Please print and fill out the age appropriate form.
What to expect on your first visit
Whether your child is coming for Physical, Occupational or Speech Therapy, you can expect to see a similar process across disciplines. The evaluating therapist will meet with you and your child to gather information about your child and his or her needs. Once the necessary information is obtained, the therapist will move onto the evaluation portion of the visit. In most cases, the family is welcome to stay in the room for the evaluation, but if the child appears to perform better alone, the family may be asked to step out of the room for certain evaluation tasks. You may also be asked to complete additional paperwork at this time if deemed necessary by evaluating therapist.
Once the evaluation is complete, the therapist will make a recommendation for therapy services. These recommendations are patient specific and may range from the child not requiring services to weekly services to multiple times per week. If therapy services are recommended, the therapist will discuss the focus of treatment with you and will work with you to formulate therapy goals in order to help your child reach his or her maximum potential.
Before you leave our office on your first visit, our staff will work with you to develop a treatment schedule based on therapist recommendations.
What to expect during the course of treatment
If your child is recommended to receive therapy services by one of our skilled clinicians, the treating therapist will provide you with regular feedback throughout the course of treatment so that you have an understanding of your child’s progress. In most cases, you will also be asked to carry out a home exercise program with your child in order to supplement the interventions they are receiving here at Orange Pediatric Therapy.
Family involvement is crucial in helping your child reach his or her maximum level of success. If at any point during the course of treatment you have questions or concerns about your child’s progress or programming, do not hesitate to discuss these with the treating therapist.
Once your child has met all of his or her therapy goals or it is determined that therapy is no long appropriate, and the treating therapist feels that additional goals are not warranted based on your child’s level of functioning, your child will be recommended for discharge from therapy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our therapists and staff are here to serve your child’s needs and support the family. Below is a list of commonly asked questions on our office procedures and policies. Select the +/- signs to expand and contract the question of interest. If you don’t see an answer to what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to contact us.
The evaluating therapist will meet with you and your child in the beginning of the evaluation session to obtain patient information relevant to treatment. Parent concerns will also be discussed at this time. Once all relevant information is received, the therapist will begin the evaluation process. Evaluation testing may be standardized, function based or a combination of the two depending upon your child’s needs. At the end of the evaluation period, the therapist will discuss initial findings with you. Once the documentation is completed, the therapist will send a copy of the findings to your referring physician. A copy of the evaluation can also be made available to you upon request.