Do you have a child who is medically fragile?
A child who is medically fragile often has medical conditions that make them unable to care for themselves. A child who is medically fragile often needs help performing basic activities such as bathing, feeding, walking, etc, regardless of their age.
What can we do to help? How do we make sure our children who are medically fragile are properly cared for?
- We become familiarized with the child’s medical conditions
- We create the best plan of care for the child and personalize it to match their specific needs.
- We make modifications in the office to accommodate for your child’s specific needs.
- We also work very closely with your child’s health care providers to ensure the best care.
What if my child needs equipment?
Your therapist will make recommendations for the specific device or equipment your child made need to help your child walk, stand, or sit. This will be something that you discuss together because you play a vital role in your child’s plan. We make sure your voice and opinions are heard.
How can we work on increasing expressive & receptive language skills?
A child who Is medically fragile typically has higher receptive language skills (what they understand) than expressive language skills (what they are able to say).
Here are a few things you can do to make sure you are surrounding your child with as much language as possible!
- TALK,TALK, TALK- make sure you are talking to your child as much as you can. Be a narrator when you’re in the car, at the store, etc. Talk about what you see or what you are doing.
- Name everything in their environment. This can help them gain new words.
- Read books. Label the items on the pages. Talk about who, what, where, when in the story.
- Teach core vocabulary words such as go, in, on, open, more, want, etc.
- Praise, praise, praise!
- Always be a model for your child to learn how to communicate wants and needs.
- Teach yes and no. This can be done with a head nod or a head shake!
How can we increase social and emotional skills?
- Every child loves to be talked to, cared for and included!
- Make sure you do the same for your child who is medically fragile.
- Introduce them to friends at school.
- Include them in games and adapt the game to fit their needs! Any activity can be adapted to fit your child! At SPGCT we can teach you how to do this!
- Teach greetings like waying hi and bye.
- Teach sharing!
How do I increase my child’s independence in completing self-care tasks?
Self-care tasks include feeding, dressing, bathing, and toileting. These are important skills that we do on a daily basis. Our occupational therapist will work hand and hand with you to develop a specific plan of care for you child! The therapist will provide you with strategies on how to increase independence when completing the activities of daily living at home. They will also provide you with information on certain equipment that your child may benefit from and what may make the tasks easier to complete.
We believe in the interdisciplinary team approach! Here at SPGCT we include all essential members of your child’s care team: including YOU as the parents!
If you are interested in joining our medically fragile play/support group contact us, today!
Kind Words
We create relationships and are grateful to our many parents, agencies, and school counselors for their support throughout the years.
“I appreciate all of your, and your staffs’, efforts over the past several months. I have received a number of very positive remarks from my colleagues regarding the quality of everyone’s work.”
“ We switched from a large practice to SPGCT because I felt my child was lost in the mix. Rachel is on top of insurance claims and sends frequent emails to stay connected.”
“If there has ever been a parental, administrative or teacher concern – the ladies have jumped in immediately to help. It is evident these SLP’s have worked in our school systems for years.”
“I have been a contractor for many years - but this is the first time I have worked for a practice that is run by a fellow SLP - and what a difference it makes! Rachel truly understands our needs and our worth.”
For More Information
Call (475) 239-5512