ALL ABOUT THERAPY CENTERS- Occupational/Speech/Physical etc.

[liana]

mga sis are you familiar with Center for Child's Potential in Binondo
feedback naman pls

[mic_parro]

hi mga sis what's the contact number for therabilities? my brother was referred by dr. manalo kasi nung november pa ang sabi tatawagan daw kami but up to now no calls pa din.. i wanted to get update kasi..TIA!

[darna88]

ano ba ideal sa theraphy na sessions of day...kasi recommend si baby for twice a week OT...yung 2 consecutive days ba ideally i mean magkadikit na day of session like forx example friday then saturday,  or yung medyo magkahiwalay like tuesday then saturday...tenks a lot

[annaotr/l]

Hi Everyone,

I found this forum in search for some answers regarding opening a sensory integration clinic in Manila.  I am an occupational therapist in California and I have been in private practice for over 10 years.  I have a sensory integration clinic that specializes in Occupational Therapy and we specialize in Early Intervention and School Age Children. I received my degree from University of Southern California (USC) which is the top rated school for OT in the whole nation.  I am also certified in Sensory Integration, NDT, Neonatal Oral Motor Scale Assessment, and so on.  With that said, can any one give me an idea as to what is the current need for occupational therapy services in Manila.  I've been reading through this forum and it looks like there are already many established but quality wise, are they any good?  Is there a need for more clinics?  Do all developmental centers must have an OT, PT, or ST on site or can one center specialize in one type of practice?  Also, are all clients private pay?  Are there medical insurance or goverment assisted program so that the people who cannot afford to pay can receive therapy?  If not, who treats these kids?  I am very interested in opening a clinic somewhere in Makati and would like your feedback.  I would like to get more information as to what area is in need or centralize enough to reach everyone.  I also would like to get information on how difficult/easy to look for therapist/employees.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Feel free to check out our clinic in California by visiting our website:  stepbysteptherapy.org
Thank you for your time.  I hope to hear feedback from all of you. 

Warmly,

Anna

[Chili1113]

hi mga sis what's the contact number for therabilities? my brother was referred by dr. manalo kasi nung november pa ang sabi tatawagan daw kami but up to now no calls pa din.. i wanted to get update kasi..TIA!

Sis, super hirap to get a sched in Therabilities. In my case, Dr. Dimalanta really helped me get a sched bec sya mismo tumatawag sa Therabilities to get schedules for his patients. He even coordinates with owner Tisha Palanca who he prefers to handle at least all initial assessments for his patients. AND yet, I had to wait months... as in around 3 months in order to get a schedule.

Therabilities no is: 6340639 secretary is Alma and Espie

[Chili1113]

Anna let me try my best to answer your questions. I am a mom of a child with Sensory Processing and gross motor planning issues. He is also at risk for ADHD/ADD and Mild Language Processing Disorder, but we have yet to receive an official diagnosis re that. We have been doing therapy for 8 months.

I am only familiar with Quezon City and Ortigas therapy centers so I am basing it on the 7 centers I have visited when I was shopping around for an OT and SP.

1) Need for more clinics? DEFINITELY. Most especially SENSORY INTEGRATION facilities. I have seen many facilities and most DO NOT have proper equipment to perform proper Sensory Integration Therapy.

So far though, I am happy with Therabilities facilities bec they have complete equip: wall climbing, suspended swings, hammocks, vestibular boards, crash pillows, ball pool, zipline chord etc etc etc. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME bec my son needs primarily S.I. to hone gross motor planning skills. However, it is always majorly crowded there. There are about 20 kids at any given time using the OT area. It is spacious, but I find the crowd distracting for my son sometimes. However, for not I just try to see this as an opportunity for him to lessen his auditory sensitivities to distracting noises around him.

There are many other centers with decent facilities and good therapists, BUT few that can do sensory integration therapy with the works. These centers are great too perhaps for behavior modification, table-top attention span activities. However I do not find them adequate for a child with sensory integration needs who need to do a lot of sensory integration.

2) There is a newly opened center which i visited with great facilities in a brand new building. However, I chose not to avail of their services bec I wasnt satisfied in the educational background of therapists available. For one, I prefer my son to be taught only be U.P. Manila graduates. I also check for experience. I make sure my OT and SP has at least 3 years of heavy/full workload experience. Sadly its is very difficult to find one with experience. Normally fresh grads will work here for a few years before practicing abroad.

3) most centers offer all services of OT/SP/PT. However there are some that seem to specialize more in a particular service. For instance, my son goes for speech dyad in another center. For speech therapy I am not so particular about facilities since Speech is mostly a sit-down activity. So I chose solely on the expertise and qualifications of the speech pathologist, and NOT on based on the facilities.

4) Yes, It is mostly private pay. I have yet hear of medical insurance etc that will cover the expenses of therapy.

I hope this was helpful to you. I do hope you will be inspired to set up a center here. I am really a firm believer of intervention bec I have seen my son really improve dramatically. He still has some issues, primarily socialization issues and is still slow to adapt... but he is doing great and even aced entrance exams to La Salle and Xavier. I really do hope the "help" becomes more readily available for kids who need it.

[struddles]

hi mga sis, i'd like to ask if any of your kids experienced this... my son can speak naman. in fact he's very talkative. but i'm concerned lang kase he's a boy and he has a high-pitched voice. esp when he gets excited. so ang sakit sa tenga...  do any of you know how this can be corrected? also and letter s nya, sounds like "th". so yes becomes "yeth" parang ganon. i've seen teacher danna. and she told me ok lang or something... mas concerned sya sa high pitched voice daw. i didn't go back for therapy na nga over the "th" kase parang he has to keep repeating it lang and be reminded that s is s and not "th". pls help

[mom.of.inchikoy]

^ sis, my son has PROMPT speech path aside from his current speech path (t.deana). since ang articulation ang isa sa issues namin, prompt helped a lot in this area. so with "S" try mo 'to sis... have his palm/hand infront of his mouth and face his face na rin na tatapat mouth mo sa palm nya. let him feel the vibration from the s sound coming from you para magaya nya rin...

with the high pitch sound, i'm not sure  on what to do with it.better ask the specialist in that area siguro...

hth

[mic_parro]

^sis chili1113

san nag ST son mo? i'm looking for ST rin kasi..

[Chili1113]

^sis sa WeSpeak in Ortigas with Teacher Kat. Ok din Teacher Dana as some of the moms will here will tell u

[mic_parro]

sis pa pm naman ng contact details of WeSpeak.. i'd like to inquire.. TIA

[Chili1113]

^ hi sis! Yup Ive seen T dana around at thera. She seems very good nga and looks like one of the older ones. Shes diff from the T Dana na speech therapist

T. Dana i think is good bec ive seen her handle group therapy of 3 kinds. This means that she's quite senior na din for Tisha to make her handle group therapy

I agree Tisha is very very good and thorough!!! I dont regret waiting for a sched for the initial assessment and paying extra. However for my re-assessment it was the teachers who handle my son who did the assessment since theyre the ones who have benn working with him the past 8 mos.

[marose17]

^ Sis, Tisha is one of the best, if not the best OT, around.  Incidentally, she's the sister of Dr. Cricket Chen, one of the pediatricians often mentioned in another thread here in GT.  Cricket is a naturopathic medicine expert.

When one of my sons underwent PT at Thera (under T. Deanna), I used to observe Tisha in the therapy area.  She's really very very good and thorough!

[polka08]

have you guys heard of communicare here in bf laspinas/paranaque area? we were recommended to that center, P1900 for 2 1 hour sessions.

[twnks]

Embrace is located at 5th flr, Don Santiago Building at Taft. Just across PGH. I don't have their number but if you do find one, look for Natalie.
OT ng anak ko is si Teacher Joyce. I so love her. She does wonders to my son. ang laki ng improvement. Though my son is so ready for ST, we still continue with OT kasi we can't find a schedule yet.

[kikskate]

hi.. my son needs an OT. which center would you recommend? Dra. Salcedo said we try SKILL BUILDERS but i've heard about how good OTs from THERABILITIES are handling their students, so which one? Location doesn't matter for us. Could someone please give me an idea how much they charge for their sessions.

thank you very much

[Chili1113]

Therabilities is 625 per 1 hr session. Most of the centers charge about the same price

[rhed]

if you want UP manila grads as therapists, go check goals - in alabang
they also have branches in malabon ata,just google them 

[kikskate]

@jarira: sis sorry cant send PMs, btw we're going to thera na for my son's OT, then after that he needs to go on speech... baka pwede na sa kapatid mo.

thank you

[Chili1113]

^ If u need a Speech Therapist, now pa lang mag pa request ka na sa Thera. I was on the waitlist for many months. Good thing I found a very good therapist in another center, She also works at Thera and St lukes, but I was able to get an opening in her sched in another center.

I went through 3 reg SPs and 2 Senior SPs before finding a good one for my son. Highly recommend also Ms. Mae Sandicon at St. Lukes, one of the best Speech Pathologists in the country to make  a program for your child, which you can have your regular therapist follow with your child