Neurodevelopmental Therapy

ND Therapy...another thing to put in the "why didn't I know about this sooner?" camp..I didn't even HEAR about it until Parker was 8 months old. He was 10 months old by the time I applied to the program, had his initial evaluation, and we started his program. Yes, it is HARD work, it is time consuming, but we were already spending every waking hour working with Parker on "play," so this really isn't any different. Instead it is "productive play with a purpose." It isn't for the faint of heart, it takes, frequency, intensity, and duration to be successful. It takes organization and a commitment of time. It also takes faith. Faith when the results don't come automatically, faith when it seems like it is all for naught, but isn't that what the Bible teaches us? We are to live by faith, not by sight. There are days when I feel like giving up and quitting, but we continue to persevere and it is one of those things I think EVERY new parent should invest in. We chose NACD, National Association of Childhood Development. www.nacd.org

They have a proven track record of success not only with brain injured children, but "typical" kids as well. Check out their DS site and see for yourself. http://downsyndrome.nacd.org/index.php


We started private therapy at 4months with Parker. I demanded oral motor therapy even when I had no clue what I was doing and no one believed it was necessary until he was 2 (I kid you not and these were the so called "specialists"). We did OT too, but I never felt 100% that I had the right "homework" if you will. The oral motor I did had specific exercises for the mouth which I believe made a HUGE difference in Parker, but the OT was very unclear. NACD gave me specific items to address from the OT, ST, and PT realm. All very detailed and very specific. Again, can't stress enough how I believe this should be a part of every new parents regime. In an ideal world more private therapists are trained on these techniques, but ultimately the parents are responsible and they need to be educated about these therapies NOW rather than LATER.

We still do private therapy as well. We finally located the "specialists" here too, took us 4 months to get on their schedules, but we haven't looked back. They have over 25 years working with kids with DS. No, they aren't covered by insurance either, but it is an investment we are willing to make. Guess what? They have ND training too. Go figure.