Hello!
I know it has been a while since my last
post. I have been reading a lot about things not directly related to OT and I
guess I lost inspiration for the blog for a while. I have recently been
learning about overall health from a functional medicine perspective. I came
across with the topic after looking for information online about how to control
Hashimoto's hypothyroidism naturally. I found the things I was reading very
interesting and have gotten kind of obsessed with that.
In other news, a couple of weeks ago I
took another of the Sensory Integration Certification Program courses. Recently I
remembered that I never talked about taking these courses on the blog.
SIPT Test Kit
As you may already know, the Sensory
Integration Certification Program consists of 4 courses (each one lasts 5
days). I started with the certification courses right after graduation on July
2014. After that, I took the 4th course in December 2014, and the 2nd course
this July. This is the first time that this certification is being offered in
Puerto Rico.
I recommend every OT that works with
children to take at least the first and last course (you can only take those
two, but you will not be awarded a certification in sensory integration). The
2nd and 3rd course are about the SIPT which stands for "Sensory
Integrarion and Praxis Test" by Jean Ayres.
By my island's standards this test is
extremely expensive. They told us in the course that OTs in the United States
charge from $600-$1,500 for each evaluation that includes the SIPT. I
understand the cost because only the test kit goes over a $1,000 and it takes a
lot of time to learn, administer and interpret. Besides that, you have to pay
for the four courses of the certification (about $750 each) in order to be able
to administer it. As if that's not enough, you also have to pay about $300 for
each 10 administrations to be able to calculate the results (which I find
unfair). Also the shipping cost of the kit to Puerto Rico was
almost $300 because they count it as "international shipping" and
use UPS to send it here.
The problem with this is that where I
live, we usually charge for a standard OT evaluation between $120-$250.
Even though in Puerto Rico we use the same US dollar, and food and
services are priced the same or higher than in the US, our salaries are much
lower. I'm not sure parents will be able to pay the real value of an
evaluation that includes the SIPT.
I decided to take the whole course even
though I may never have an actual SIPT client to have the credentials and
knowledge to be a better OT.
No comments:
Post a Comment