speech therapy

[foxxynhounds]

Okay, the twinkies qualify for speech through the public schools, but only 20min/week, which is not often enough or enough time for them to get used to the therapist. We do not qualify for the 3yo 1/2day program, so we might have to look at private alternatives. Are there any good speech therapists in St. Mary's who are GREAT with kids? Advice appreciated!

 

[lmor]

Something to keep in mind is that pediatric speech therapy is covered by most insurance plans. If you are insured, look in the provider's book for a pediatric therapist in your area.

 

[BadGirl]

Something to keep in mind is that pediatric speech therapy is covered by most insurance plans. If you are insured, look in the provider's book for a pediatric therapist in your area.

Very good info to know. Thanks!

I'm not sure if Little Bubba requires speech therapy, but I'd like to get him assessed to see if he needs it.

 

[onebdzee]

When zman was diagnosed with a speech issue, we were referred to the infants and toddlers program through the school

Local Infants & Toddlers Program

just a fyi....federal law states that every child under the age of 21 is entitled to a free and appropriate public education for students with disabilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973....if they try to give you any excuses as to why they can't help you, you might want to mention this law and a possible contact with an attorney

 

[CRHS89]

the Infants and Toddlers Program is for birth to 3 years old...Child Find (through the public schools) is for ages 3-5.

 

[tygrace]

Something to keep in mind is that pediatric speech therapy is covered by most insurance plans. If you are insured, look in the provider's book for a pediatric therapist in your area.

I went through my insurance for speech therapy for my son. It was in Prince Frederick, and the therapist saw him 2x a week for 30 minutes a session. She did the consultation, and in her opinion, that's how much he needed. The only downfall with going through your insurance is, having to pay the co-pay. Which for me, it was $30 a visit, so it ended up being pretty expensive ($240 a month x 6 months).

I did go through Child Find when my son was at the age for Pre-k, and they advised he should be allowed into Pre-K through the public schools, and that's how he was able to attend Pre-K.

 

[Suz]

Okay, the twinkies qualify for speech through the public schools, but only 20min/week, which is not often enough or enough time for them to get used to the therapist. We do not qualify for the 3yo 1/2day program, so we might have to look at private alternatives. Are there any good speech therapists in St. Mary's who are GREAT with kids? Advice appreciated!

504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973--No child can be excluded from speech therapy under FEDERAL law. My eldest (by 2 min) COULD NOT walk and chew gum at the same time. He also could not tell me what he wanted (that I could understand). Most of the time his twin brother interpreted for him. It was a nerauological (sp?) condition. He started speech therapy through the PUBLIC school system at age 2.

When he graduated from Greenview Knolls Elementary school to middle school, he gave a speech. Mr. Hazuda, who was the principle his entire time there, commented how when he started there he couldn't understand a single word my son spoke. When he "graduated" his speech was perfect.

I give thanks every day to what people did for my son. I especially give thanks to Lynn Mcguffie who was his speech therapist at GVK. She has since retired from the school system,

Something to keep in mind is that pediatric speech therapy is covered by most insurance plans. If you are insured, look in the provider's book for a pediatric therapist in your area.

When zman was diagnosed with a speech issue, we were referred to the infants and toddlers program through the school

Local Infants & Toddlers Program

just a fyi....federal law states that every child under the age of 21 is entitled to a free and appropriate public education for students with disabilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973....if they try to give you any excuses as to why they can't help you, you might want to mention this law and a possible contact with an attorney

and it doesn't cost you a dime.

 

[StrawberryGal]

504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973--No child can be excluded from speech therapy under FEDERAL law. My eldest (by 2 min) COULD NOT walk and chew gum at the same time. He also could not tell me what he wanted (that I could understand). Most of the time his twin brother interpreted for him. It was a nerauological (sp?) condition. He started speech therapy through the PUBLIC school system at age 2.

When he graduated from Greenview Knolls Elementary school to middle school, he gave a speech. Mr. Hazuda, who was the principle his entire time there, commented how when he started there he couldn't understand a single word my son spoke. When he "graduated" his speech was perfect.

I give thanks every day to what people did for my son. I especially give thanks to Lynn Mcguffie who was his speech therapist at GVK. She has since retired from the school system,






and it doesn't cost you a dime.

That's correct.

Here I am... I can speak very well for a deaf person who was born deaf. I received speech therapist from 3 years old all the way up to high school through public school and it was FREE.

 

[foxxynhounds]

The girls DO qualify for speech therapy through part C (Infants & Toddlers) & will "graduate" to part B (pre-school special ed) this fall...but my concern is that 3x30-min sessions/month will not be enough for them to make any significant progress, since they are both shy and withdrawn and do not warm up to providers easily. Ideally, I would like for them to be in a preschool type setting, where they can get attached to a provider b/c they are with him/her for greater periods of time - otherwise, I think that all the time spent shuttling them back and forth will be wasted if they won't participate b/c it takes them too long to warm up to the situation. I guess a private provider wouldn't necessarily help there, either, since it probably would not be more frequent, and there aren't any private schools with more intensive programs (other than 2 1/2 days/week) - which wouldn't matter anyway, since "speech doesn't travel" - meaning, we have to bring them to the school (unlike Infants and Toddlers, which was able to come to us sometimes).

I'm at a loss. I don't really have the time to waste on stressing out my girls if speech therapy is going to be so infrequent as to be ineffective, but we don't qualify for more intensive programs...should I just wait until next year, for pre-K?

 

[knittin]

The best thing you can do is attend the therapy sessions and really work with your child every day on the particular lesson that they are working on with the therapist. Your child can be retested periodically to see if they can qualify for more therapy time. My child went to private school but was taken to public school by us (no transporation provided) at the end of the day to attend speech.

 

[Sweet 16]

Your pediatrician should be able to recommend a speech therapist. They can also give referrals so your insurance will cover it.

 

[RareBreed]

I noticed in my son's Pre-K class that 90% of the kids were given notes saying they should look into speech therapy for their kids. Is there a possibility that you may be over-reacting and that it's just normal "kid talk" that will improve as they get older? You never mentioned what the problem with their speech was. My oldest son spoke like a 10 yr old at age 2. Kinda freaked me out alittle. My younger son is not as "refined" as his older brother was at the same age but definately doesn't sound any different than a typical kid his age.

I guess I'm just curious as to what the problem is with your kid's speech that would require therapy at such a young age.

 

[SoMDGirl42]

My youngest was evaluated by Infants and Toddlers at 2 years old. She didn't qualify. At three she was evaluated by Child Find. She didn't qualify. They suggest I evaluate her again at 4. If she ends up with speech problems forever because she didn't get early intervention, I'll be mad. Just because she's smart and knows her ABCs, colors and shapes shouldn't exclude her from getting speech therapy. It's very frustrating as a parent.

 

[foxxynhounds]

I guess I'm just curious as to what the problem is with your kid's speech that would require therapy at such a young age.

At the ripe age of almost 3yo, they are practically unintelligible. No consonants besides "m" and "b". They had feeding problems as infants (lacking oral muscle strength to feed), so we KNOW they had a potential to develop speech problems. Their speech problem (articulation) is ranked as a 19 on a scale of 25 - when other kids are talking sentences (even simple ones), the girls sound like they're drowning in mashed potatoes when they talk. A year after ear tubes were put in, no significant improvement, although the comprehension is there. We work on the skills our therapist recommends, but "may I have milk please" still sounds like "aaaa-iii-iii (short i)-eee?" - if it's even that understandable.

 

[SoMDGirl42]

At the ripe age of almost 3yo, they are practically unintelligible. No consonants besides "m" and "b". They had feeding problems as infants (lacking oral muscle strength to feed), so we KNOW they had a potential to develop speech problems. Their speech problem (articulation) is ranked as a 19 on a scale of 25 - when other kids are talking sentences (even simple ones), the girls sound like they're drowning in mashed potatoes when they talk. A year after ear tubes were put in, no significant improvement, although the comprehension is there. We work on the skills our therapist recommends, but "may I have milk please" still sounds like "aaaa-iii-iii (short i)-eee?" - if it's even that understandable.

have you considered teaching them some easy sign language until their muscles develop further? i.e.
more
milk
eat
please

 

[RareBreed]

At the ripe age of almost 3yo, they are practically unintelligible. No consonants besides "m" and "b". They had feeding problems as infants (lacking oral muscle strength to feed), so we KNOW they had a potential to develop speech problems. Their speech problem (articulation) is ranked as a 19 on a scale of 25 - when other kids are talking sentences (even simple ones), the girls sound like they're drowning in mashed potatoes when they talk. A year after ear tubes were put in, no significant improvement, although the comprehension is there. We work on the skills our therapist recommends, but "may I have milk please" still sounds like "aaaa-iii-iii (short i)-eee?" - if it's even that understandable.

Oh, ok. I didn't know it was that obvious of a problem. When I found out that most of my son's class was reccommended for speech therapy, I got real skeptical about what it was based upon. I hope your kids get the help they need. Good luck!!

 

[onebdzee]

The girls DO qualify for speech therapy through part C (Infants & Toddlers) & will "graduate" to part B (pre-school special ed) this fall...but my concern is that 3x30-min sessions/month will not be enough for them to make any significant progress, since they are both shy and withdrawn and do not warm up to providers easily. Ideally, I would like for them to be in a preschool type setting, where they can get attached to a provider b/c they are with him/her for greater periods of time - otherwise, I think that all the time spent shuttling them back and forth will be wasted if they won't participate b/c it takes them too long to warm up to the situation. I guess a private provider wouldn't necessarily help there, either, since it probably would not be more frequent, and there aren't any private schools with more intensive programs (other than 2 1/2 days/week) - which wouldn't matter anyway, since "speech doesn't travel" - meaning, we have to bring them to the school (unlike Infants and Toddlers, which was able to come to us sometimes).

I'm at a loss. I don't really have the time to waste on stressing out my girls if speech therapy is going to be so infrequent as to be ineffective, but we don't qualify for more intensive programs...should I just wait until next year, for pre-K?

If you don't feel that your children are getting enough time, you need to say something to the one handling the case....when my 19 year old was in therapy, they recommended that he go 2 times a month and I didn't think that was enough, I spoke with the director of the school and she agreed that he needed more time

Sometimes they go by what they think is enough, but after a couple of sessions they change it, especially if you say something to them....You also have to do "lessons" at home with them which helps a lot

 

[onebdzee]

have you considered teaching them some easy sign language until their muscles develop further? i.e.
more
milk
eat
please

That's what we did with zman(he didn't say his first word till he was a little over 2)....I think he has forgotten more sign language than most adults know

 

[foxxynhounds]

Oh, ok. I didn't know it was that obvious of a problem. When I found out that most of my son's class was reccommended for speech therapy, I got real skeptical about what it was based upon. I hope your kids get the help they need. Good luck!!

Yeah, it's kinda depressing when kids around us that are 18mos or 2yrs are carrying on intelligible conversations, and the girls might as well be speaking a different language. I'm not one for over-therapizing (I know, it's not a word), but the girls definitely have a speech problem.

 

[SoccerMom2]

My son was able to go to the Judy Center at age 3 because of speech issues. Child find helped me out. Betsy St. Lawrence was the lady's name. She is wonderful. Head Start can help too. As long as your child has any type of disability you qualify.