IM is growing in Kansas

I just counted, there are 51 IM providers in Kansas now, 23 (nearly half) of which are in TOPEKA! Topeka is leading the way in this state! Yes! Go Topeka!  

I think we need one or more in EVERY school here now too! Just 6 years ago, IM Focused was just the 3rd IM facility in the entire state of Kansas. In 2002, there was one other location in Topeka where my son went then (Kudos to Kansas Therapeutic Pathways), and one in Kansas City (in a school!).

As I looked at the list, I counted 9 of the 51 providers that I had either trained their child or a child they saw, or encouraged in some other way to become an IM provider. Many of these people were OT's, PT's or Speech Pathogists and I wanted to pick their brains after they became IM proficient! On a side bar, I feel excitement as IM grows - for every child these 9 help, the reach of IM multiplies even farther.

I'm rooting for schools to get on board now. Four private schools here in Topeka are on board at various levels and a few public schools have had presentations/information sent. Parents, you are the key to getting IM in your school! IM is an awesome tool to help that struggling child. IM is the best universal tool that I've seen in my lifetime, and I've tried a lot of interventions, spent a lot of money, prayed a lot. If you read much in this blog, you will see, I had a struggling child and spent 17 years looking for answers! IM was absolutely my son's answer. And IM is extremely cost effective - if you are looking at dollars and cents. Schools - think about the savings if even half of your students that need a Para could be independent! IM could save the schools thousands in the long run - besides actually helping the children find success!

I caution you though, don't cut off help at 15 sessions - that's such an arbitrary number - individual children need to be treated individually. Though every one sees some significant gain in just 15 sessions - some may need to go through 3 times spread over several years (doing different tasks to impact different mental processes)! My experience is every session of IM brings up performance about 1%, in 15 sessions a child averages about 15% improvement in performance, 3o sessions and the child averages 30% better performance. This is very simplified, but IM seems to be cumulative and the percentages are about what I've seen on average in 6 years of IM.

IM providers, I think it's time to gather in Kansas and share what we've learned. I think of this often, just haven't taken the time to organize a gathering. Maybe someday....