In So Many Words

A bit of background:  STAP stands for Summer Therapeutic Activities Program, meets Monday-Friday and is funded through Medical Assistance.  Playgroup is Thursday afternoons, is run by the Intermediate Unit (IU) and funded through the school district.  Same transportation company has both contracts, one through the county and the other through the school district.

1.  Wednesday 8:55 am – call STAP to find out if van driver has been there, since she hasn’t picked up the Little Guy and we have been sitting outside for half an hour (pickup time was scheduled for 8:35 am).  Also find out why they left voice mail message asking if he has any dietary restrictions after he was refusing to eat his lunch earlier this week (instead of them already knowing this information because it was discussed with the program director and noted in his intake paperwork, or even possibly from looking inside the backpack he brought with him to see the lunch I packed and backup note I sent!).

2.  Wednesday 9:05 am – call phone number given by driver and leaving message on her answering machine that I was taking the Little Guy to STAP since she hadn’t come yet and since I am supposed to be at work at 9:00 am.  Hoped she was alright and that there wasn’t an accident or anything.

3.  Wednesday 9:10 am – call boss to let him know that I am running late and will be at work as soon as possible.

4.  Wednesday 9:20 am – call transportation company and leave message that he wasn’t picked up, despite the van driver telling the STAP personnel (when she dropped the other kids off at 9:10 am) that she came by our house and we weren’t there.

5.  Wednesday 12:30 pm – call transportation company to follow up on earlier message and learn that message was not passed on to appropriate person when she came in.  Assured that situation would be looked into and he would be picked up tomorrow.

6.  Thursday 3:45 pm – call the IU and leave message for preschool secretary to double check that they were supposed to start back this week after the 4-week break, since he was not picked up for playgroup this afternoon.

7.  Thursday 3:50 pm – call playgroup location and leave message for teacher to let him know why the Little Guy was not in attendance today.

8.  Thursday 3:55 pm – call the IU again and leave message in teacher’s voice mail since he is only on location on Thursdays and might not otherwise get the message until next week.

9.  Thursday 4:10 pm – call transportation company after hearing back from IU that they were definitely scheduled for today.  Ask about situation from yesterday since I hadn’t heard back on that and learn that driver must have come very early and just not waited; apparently 8:25 am is our new pickup time, so we need to be ready by 8:15 am.  Also told that she doesn’t know why he wasn’t picked up for playgroup and assured that he will be picked up for it next week.

10.  Thursday 4:25 pm – call STAP director to make sure she knows that he will be picked up for playgroup next week and am told that the transportation company is now questioning it because they aren’t sure who is paying for it.  Let her know that school district should pay for it just like they have been since playgroup started last August.

Phew!  It finally looks like everything is resolved with the summer schedule.  One more day and then the weekend – TGIF!!

Now, you didn’t really think I would get off the hook that easily, did you??

Friday 1:30 pm – call Medical Assistance insurance company to get referral for pediatric dentist who works with special needs children since the Little Guy has a checkup scheduled for next week.  Am told after talking to four different people over the course of about 40 minutes that they will no longer give this referral, even though this is the only dentist he has ever allowed near him.  Learn that since they now have a pediatric dentist as a participating provider, he must go to her even though she is farther away and may or may not be able to get near him to actually examine his teeth and even though they might have to pay the entire bill if she is not participating with our primary insurance rather than just a part or even possibly nothing at all.

As both our primary care dentist and the new referral dentist are closed, and the insurance person at the dentist he actually sees is gone for the day, I will have to wait until Monday to start the next round of phone calls.  Have a great weekend everybody!

Related Posts:

• A Parents’ Guide to Extended School Year Services
• Summer Camp & Spectrum Kids: Let’s Create Fun!
• UPDATED: The Summer Program Stress Continues