Teletherapy Life Without Power

A bad storm and tornados came through my area a couple of days ago and we were out of power for days. Obviously, no power means no internet and no teletherapy for me. They were saying we wouldn't have power all week. So I did one session on Monday before the storm and then ended up canceling the rest of my week. I didn’t get power back until late last night, so Wednesday night. Thankfully we have a generator to keep the fridge going to save our food. I was also able to charge my phone and when the cable was working watch a little tv. I sent my son to his dad’s house since he had power. I got to stay home to keep an eye on the generator and things in the house. I’m also glad I didn’t have classes right now, otherwise, I would have had to go somewhere with internet for classes and tests.

With my free time, I was trying to plan on what to do for my growing caseload and for this blog. I thankfully am getting new referrals in from other areas in Illinois that I don’t typically work in. I’m glad to be growing my caseload and teletherapy, or Live Video Visits as it's called in Early Interventions here, has opened more opportunities for me. I know in one area they usually have to go to a clinic because there just aren’t any therapists in that rural area. Clinics aren’t accepting new clients so these kiddos wouldn’t have any speech therapy. I guess an upside of the pandemic means these kids can get teletherapy and get it in their homes, coaching their parents like Early Interventions was meant to be. Hopefully, teletherapy stays long after the pandemic ends. The opportunities for both families and therapists are good.

Now that my power has come back, I am able to do all those fun house things like dishes and laundry I couldn’t do the last few days. I also have set up my new Bluetooth keyboard. I’m getting my desk set up better for teletherapy. I need my laptop on a little stand, so the camera is in a better view which made typing harder. Now I have a keyboard so I can type up my reports while I’m in the session easier. I’ll also sometimes look something up on the side if we are talking about something in the session. I can also set up an email and when the session ends email the parent any links or handouts right away.

Since I am not directly trying to do therapy with the child, and I’m doing more observing and coaching. I can easily use half my screen to view them and half to look up sensory bins for toddlers so I can send the caregiver the link. I also have handouts saved on my computer so I can attach those to an email easily and keep on trucking through the session. If the caregiver has a question or wants to know about a meeting or to add on a service, I can email or text the Service Coordinator right then and there. If the Service Coordinator answer quickly, I can give the caregiver an answer right away. It also makes sure I don’t accidentally forget. Life gets in the way, sometimes I forget things. I’m loving being able to multitask and keep going. In-person, taking out my phone could be a distraction to the child, now they don’t even know I’m doing it.

As you can see in my picture I'm all ready for more teletherapy with some new kids next week. Even though I have power, I am still taking this time to get my life back together here. I have my big iced coffee and my puppy has her space behind my chair. Now I need a better chair. You can also see my Cricut close by for crafting during my downtime. It's a nice little space for now. I'm getting settles and happy with my teletherapy space. I have my blue light glasses and my little bin with activity dice that I'm trying to figure out how to work with. Then my boyfriend moves all of it at night for his baseball cards. Hopefully, in a new house, I will have my own office space. This will do for now.