Guides
Plain-language guides to finding and paying for pediatric therapy — written by a parent who has spent years doing it. They teach you how to choose. They never tell you which clinic to pick. Most are written for parents; some are for the professionals who refer them.
- For parentsUse AI to compare health plans when your child is in therapy
A prompt you can copy, the cash prices Austin-area clinics post, and three example families — including the one surprise that can flip the math on a high-deductible plan.
- For parentsMedicaid and ABA therapy in Austin: how it works, step by step
ABA is covered by Texas Medicaid, but only with the right paperwork, through your child’s own health plan, and in blocks of time that have to be renewed. Here’s the whole path, in order.
- For professionalsAfter the evaluation: handing a family the next step
A family just left your office with a diagnosis and a list of recommendations. Here is what they face next, which papers each door asks for, and what to hand them so the next step is shorter.
- For parentsNew year, new plan? The January insurance reset for a child in therapy
Most January surprises happen to families who didn’t change a thing: a new card, a reset deductible, an authorization that quietly expired. Here’s what to re-check, what to hand the clinic, and the three paths if the plan dropped your child’s clinic.
- For parentsOpen enrollment when your child is in therapy: what to compare
The comparison chart in the packet was built for adults. If your child is in weekly therapy, the information you need can be buried in the plan documents — or you may need to call the support number to get it. Here’s what to ask, in order, plus the deadlines that actually count.
- For parentsFull-time or part-time ABA in Austin: how enrollment actually works
“Finding a provider” is not one step. It’s a five-step path, and the question you care about most — how many hours a week — is answered at step four, not step one. Here’s the path in order, why some programs are full-time only, and the questions to ask.
- For parentsWhere do you start? Proximity, availability, insurance — and why it’s unlikely you’ll get all three
The clinic that takes your plan has a waitlist. The one with an opening is across town. The close one is out of network. Here’s how to decide which of your criteria to give on — and why that decision is the real start of the search.
- For parentsThe specialty decoder: what the words inside speech, OT, PT, and ABA mean
The basic vocabulary gets you through intake. Then the therapist says they’ll be working on “tongue lateralization” at handoff, and you nod while wondering what that means exactly. This is the guide that covers terminology beyond the basics: the working words of each discipline, defined in plain language. And just a reminder — as a parent, it’s OK and expected for you to ask questions.
- For parentsFeeding therapy: what to expect, and how to keep going
Everyone knows a picky eater. Feeding therapy is for something else — and its progress is uniquely hard to see from inside the daily grind. What it is, what realistic progress looks like, the questions that keep a long arc honest, and the tube years, from a family seven years past the g-tube.
- For parentsGetting started with ECI: Texas early intervention for babies and toddlers, explained
"You might want to call ECI." Here is what that means: how to start it yourself today, who qualifies and by what numbers, what the first 45 days look like, and what it costs in the program’s own words.
- For parentsFinding a therapist with a specific specialty
You wouldn’t see a psychiatrist for a heart problem. Therapists specialize too — and the day someone hands you a specific word, the generic search stops working. Here’s the vocabulary, the five-question phone script, and what to do when nobody nearby does it.
- For parentsThe ARD decoder: what the school’s special-education words mean in Texas
ARD, FIE, PLAAFP, PWN, DD — Texas has its own names for everything in special education, and the paperwork assumes you speak it. Here is the translation, with the Texas numbers attached.
- For parentsHow to choose a pediatric therapy clinic (and how to tell it’s working)
Picking a clinic seems easy — who has availability and takes your insurance, right? But how would you know if it’s not the right fit? Think of it like hiring someone to work with your child: here’s what to ask, what good looks like once you start, and the one test that matters most.
- For parentsTherapy for older kids and teens in Texas: what changes at 3, 14, 16, 18, and 21
Almost everything about pediatric therapy is written for little kids. Then your child turns 11, 13, 16 — and the programs quietly assume you’ve left. Here’s the map of what changes in Texas, at which age, and what to ask before each one.
- For parentsWhen ECI ends: what happens after your child turns three
ECI isn’t reviewed at three — it ends. Families who treat the handoff as a project that starts months early have a very different experience from families who learn about it the month before. Here’s the map, and the six-months-out recommendation.
- For parentsIn-home, push-in, and home-health therapy: when therapy comes to you
A therapist can come to your house, meet your child at daycare, or arrive through a home-health agency. Parents usually discover these one at a time, by accident. Here’s the whole map at once — and why the right format can change as your child grows.
- For parentsComing home from the NICU: who helps next
The discharge date is the goal for weeks. Then it arrives, and the question changes from “when do we go home?” to “who helps us now?” Here’s how the pieces fit — and what you can line up while you’re still there.
- For parentsThe therapy-terminology decoder: what all those letters actually mean
ST, OT, ARD, push-in, superbill — everyone around a new therapy family speaks in initials. Here’s the plain-English translation of the words you’ll hear in your first year.
- For parentsThe kindergarten transition: keeping therapy going when school starts
Your schedule used to be the only constraint — now it’s yours and your child’s combined. Here’s how families fit OT, PT, and speech around the school day: notes, excused absences, and the fall reshuffle.
- For parentsThe pediatric therapy waitlist survival guide
Joining one waitlist and hoping is the slowest way through. Here’s how the lists actually work, what to ask when you join one, and how to keep moving while you wait.
- For parentsPaying for your child’s therapy when insurance falls short
Session caps, year-long waitlists — having insurance doesn’t always mean getting therapy. Here are the ways families actually pay, from self-pay and HSA/FSA money to Medicaid, ECI, and school services.
Currently serving families across the Austin, Texas metro.
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