NAPA Knows How

Our time at the NAPA Center was truly incredible. I had seen online a handful of accounts I follow of kids doing intensive therapy, and I was definitely intrigued but I wasn't sure where to turn. A fellow Liss mom had mentioned the NAPA center so I went to Google to do my research. At the time, registration had closed to get into an intensive session for 2023, so we were waitlisted, which was totally fine since we were still in Washington and getting to a session wasn't really feasible at the time. When registration for 2024 opened up, I applied, and waited to hear. A few weeks later I got the email that he was selected to attend an intensive session in Austin the summer we arrived back in Texas, which couldn't have worked out better. 

We figured out how we were going to make it happen between work, school, and getting settled into our new house. One of my college roommates that is still a dear friend lives in Austin, conveniently about 20 minutes from the Napa center, and she and her husband took us in with open arms, which took such a load off by having a place to land that we didn't have to rent when we got there.

So initially when he was accepted, they recommended an hour of DMI (dynamic movement intervention), an hour of OT, and an hour of Speech/Feeding. About six weeks before we were set to start in Austin, I got an email from their team asking if we'd like to add a session in the neurosuit. Knowing this would be an additional charge, and we were in the thick of buying our house, we were unsure. In the same breath, the fact that it was even possible for him to be going at this time was huge, and we don't know when we'll be able to afford to send him again, so we needed to get the maximum benefits this go around, and we made it happen! So now, he was going to be doing one hour of DMI, two hours in the neurosuit (one OT, one PT), and one hour of Speech/Feeding...so four hours/day, five days/week for 3 weeks. They call it an intensive for a reason...it's intense!

The application I filled out, I wrote all about his abilities at the time (this was in the fall 2023, so while he was progressing incredibly well thanks to his amazing therapists in Washington, he was still significantly delayed. At the time that we were considering to add the neurosuit hours, he was walking and moving around much better and I was nervous if it would even be beneficial for him.

The first day we got there, they saw how much he had developed since the application I filled out, and made some adjustments on our goals. He was exploring the facility as much as he could, and his therapists quickly learned that he would do really intense work for 5 reps or about 30 seconds, and then need a break to walk around before bringing it back to the tough work.

In DMI, he was working primarily on getting over different obstacles. He was trying to lift his legs to get over different changes in surfaces, on stable and unstable surfaces. It forced him to look down and see what he needed to do, and while he's still not fully stable on his feet, he's so much more confident with surfaces changes today compared to when we first got to Austin.

His next two hours he wore a neurosuit (the suit he's wearing in the attached photo). The first hour was PT focused, and the second hour was OT focused. It forces him to be much more aware of his body because he's getting so much input over his entire body. In the neurosuit, he practiced walking through ropes that were going every which way, so he'd have to go over and through them...it really worked his entire body. This was also the time that he was working on his attention span. These therapists knew he liked to walk around the facility and explore, so they would make him sit down and work on a specific task, whether that was putting two objects together, putting pen to paper, or even rolling over his arms to get from lying down to sitting up. He'd work on these tasks, and then get a little break and have some freedom. Then he'd get back to work. He climbed ladders trying to reach toys high up, pulling ropes connected to weights, pull himself forward while sitting on a bike focusing on hand over hand movement. He worked so a hard during these two hours, that he was so exhausted by the time he finished up in the neurosuit. 

But the work didn't stop there.

His last hour, he had Speech therapy. In speech, he worked on both feeding, and using an AAC (augmentative alternative communication). Since he doesn't have his own device, we were borrowing another patient's device everyday to see what programs would or wouldn't work for him. We started using one program that we had briefly trialed back in Washington but he never responded to it. After trying it out for a few days, we switched to another program and he immediately was more interested. Throughout the three weeks, he intentionally pressed buttons to communicate a handful of times, which was truly unbelievable. After witnessing that, we knew this program was going to be something we would continue using. Sometimes insurance can pay for these types of programs but when dealing with insurance, it typically makes things more challenging, and you don't know if at the end of the day they'll even approve what you're requesting. This program runs an annual sale, so when it went on sale we were able to buy it at 50% off and are now utilizing it at home with him. He loves to wake up in the morning and tell us he "want play" over and over, which tells us he understands that by pressing it, it will make a noise, but now we have to get him to actually communicate his needs rather than just pressing it to hear it talk.

In feeding, he practiced eating a variety of foods everyday and using a straw cup that I squeeze to get water in his mouth to work on his lip closure. He solely drinks from a bottle, and we obviously want him to not have to rely on that forever, but it's a long road with him. He practiced munching, and early chewing, but again, it's still a huge work in progress. It's the most terrifying for us because his skills and his desires don't match up, but he and I both gained so much knowledge and practice with his speech therapist. 

It's the time of year for the application for 2025 sessions and we sent our request for go to another intensive next year. He was accepted to a session for next year, and it will include the same 4 hours he had this year: one hour DMI, two hours neurosuit, one hour feeding/AAC. Now we just have to figure out how we're going to make it happen again but we are excited at the potential for him to be able to go back!