Speech Therapist?
- Thread starter havoc
- Start date
queenpwb
New Member
Talk to your pediatrician , they should be able to get you a number to your school board .They will set your child up to take a test on what level they are at and what level they should be on. If they see your child does need speech therapy , they will have your child take classes with one of their teachers. I just went through this whole process last year in St Mary .Good Luck
Thanks. The pediatrician was the one who suggested it, and she had me contact Children's Regional Outpatient in Upper Marlboro...unfortunately they have nothing at all available, so now I'm trying to find out who else in the area takes my insurance. I hate to have him miss instructional time if I can take him somewhere after school for therapy.
How old is your child? Are you and your doctor concerned about articulation or language or both?
If your child is under 4 contact the Infant & Toddler program for Charles County Public Schools. I believe they should have a Childfind representative.
If over 4 but not in Kindergarten contact the Early Childhood department of Charles County Public Schools.
If older than Kindergarten, contact the child's school directly and request a PST (Pupil Services Team) meeting to discuss your concerns with your child's speech. You can ask your child's teacher to begin the process or ask the Guidance counselor or Assistant Principal or whoever is the IEP chairperson.
Good luck!
( I say all this because you and your child are entitled to FREE speech services if he qualifies based on their testing)
Last edited:
foxxynhounds
Member
Our daughters had speech therapy both through the schools and at Creative Beginnings in Charlotte Hall. Not QUITE in Waldorf - but we LOVED Arlette!
I think the OP should follow through with the referral with Children's, as well. Sometimes you get two different standards of testing. For example, the school system has a different standard vs. medical testing. Also, even though there are timelines in place once your child is identified with Child Find, it can be a long process before any services (if any) begin.
Children's has developmental doctors who can test your child and then refer you to appropriate services. You can take those test results to the school system as well. The school has to at least consider that testing, and then you can compare that with the testing they do to come up with an appropriate plan of therapy for your child. It can't hurt to cover all your bases. (I didn't have a lot of advice on the "in's and out's" of the system when I was going through this with my son 18 years ago- I wish I had known parents who could have helped me back then.)
My advice: follow through with Children's and the school system at the same time. (Child Find, etc.)