Does FCPS have speech therapists?

[Anonymous]

My 5 year old has had a mild stutter/word repetition since he was about 3. It's not getting worse, but hasn't gone away either. He only does it when he's really excited or asking questions. I tend to think that he is just talking faster than his brain is ready to supply the words and I've thought it is something he'll grow out of. The pediatrician and his preschool teachers have noticed it as well but weren't concerned and said to just wait and see. Pediatrician suggested that if it's a problem in kindergarten (he starts in the fall) he will probably be referred to a speech therapist.

Do FCPS elementary schools have speech therapists on site? Or would we be looking at doing this on our own?

Anyone else dealt with this?

[Anonymous]

Although they do have ST at all schools, I can't imagine your child would qualify as it would nee to cause an educational impact big enough that your child struggles to access the curriculum. Clearly this is not the case for your child. Therefore, you will need to go private. Your insurance might cover it, so you should check with them.

[Anonymous]

Yes, there are SLPs in FCPs but good luck getting any services for stutter. The school may conduct an evaluation and it most likely will say "it's not impacting his education." Now if he had other problems in addition to stutter, then sure.

[Anonymous]

Good to know. Have other parents of kids with a stutter done any sort of outside speech therapy or did you not worry about it if it wasn't causing a problem and the child wasn't self conscious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although they do have ST at all schools, I can't imagine your child would qualify as it would nee to cause an educational impact big enough that your child struggles to access the curriculum. Clearly this is not the case for your child. Therefore, you will need to go private. Your insurance might cover it, so you should check with them.

Unfortunately, everyone is right. You have to have 2 problems - the stuttering and something else, be it another LD or direct impact on the education. We moved here from overseas and my DS had a lisp. My brother had the same thing some 30 years ago and my mom told me just to tell the school about it and their speech therapists will work with him for a 6 months or so and it should fix the problem. Well, it's not that simple any more. It was a huge production with a meeting of at least 10 people (some who looked pretty annoyed to be there since he only had a lisp with TH, etc.) I was told there was nothing they can do unless there was some impact in the education or some other LD. No one even mentioned this when I sent an e-mail asking if he could be checked out for the LISP by the speech therapist who works at the school. I would have dropped it there, but they had to go into this whole production just to deny it. I get it - they have rules to follow - but they could have just said that on the phone and not wasted everyone's time. Now I know. DS is now being tested for other ADD issues and I know this will be a fight too - even though were paying for this testing - b/c it hasn't really had any education impact yet. It's just starting to, but will probably get worse by Jr. High. So much for trying to help the kids before they start to fail.

[Anonymous]

First, OP, I am not an expert.

I taught elementary and took ONE class in Speech therapy. The one thing I remember from the class was that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing--in other words, don't try to do speech therapy yourself. We also learned a lot about the different types of problems.

I think I remember--and the protocol may have changed, it's been a long time--that it is not unusual for kids to stutter up until the age of 7. Also, that we ALL stutter from time to time. (There is also "hesitation" and "stuttering".)

Meanwhile, my advice is to minimize the problem with him--don't make a big deal of it. If you really think it is a problem, ask your pediatrician for advice--or his teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 5 year old has had a mild stutter/word repetition since he was about 3. It's not getting worse, but hasn't gone away either. He only does it when he's really excited or asking questions. I tend to think that he is just talking faster than his brain is ready to supply the words and I've thought it is something he'll grow out of. The pediatrician and his preschool teachers have noticed it as well but weren't concerned and said to just wait and see. Pediatrician suggested that if it's a problem in kindergarten (he starts in the fall) he will probably be referred to a speech therapist.

Do FCPS elementary schools have speech therapists on site? Or would we be looking at doing this on our own?

Anyone else dealt with this?

Yes, FCPS does have elementary school therapists onsite, I have 2 kids w/ mild speech challenges (not stuttering, making certain sounds). DC teacher will probably refer him or you can ask for a speech evaluation. Then you will meet w/ the speech teacher to confirm speech will assist DC's success in communicating w/ kids and teacher, still part of the class of course w. pullout 30 minutes (or as needed) for speech work. Very accessible.

[Anonymous]

get screened by child find if you are not in K yet. It is easier to have the testing done before school starts.

[Anonymous]

We are in McLean HS zone. I thought that my child has mild stutter. I mentioned it during our IEP meeting but the speech therapist told us that my child does not have stutter but he has a hard time to come up the correct words to say. She said that my child will need help to improve his vocabulary. He will have 1/2 hour per week with the speech therapist during his 1st grade. If you wait until the school starts, it took us about a month for ES school to come up with IEP. Child find was good but it took us 4 months for IEP from child find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5 year old has had a mild stutter/word repetition since he was about 3. It's not getting worse, but hasn't gone away either. He only does it when he's really excited or asking questions. I tend to think that he is just talking faster than his brain is ready to supply the words and I've thought it is something he'll grow out of. The pediatrician and his preschool teachers have noticed it as well but weren't concerned and said to just wait and see. Pediatrician suggested that if it's a problem in kindergarten (he starts in the fall) he will probably be referred to a speech therapist.

Do FCPS elementary schools have speech therapists on site? Or would we be looking at doing this on our own?

Anyone else dealt with this?

Yes, FCPS does have elementary school therapists onsite, I have 2 kids w/ mild speech challenges (not stuttering, making certain sounds). DC teacher will probably refer him or you can ask for a speech evaluation. Then you will meet w/ the speech teacher to confirm speech will assist DC's success in communicating w/ kids and teacher, still part of the class of course w. pullout 30 minutes (or as needed) for speech work. Very accessible.

You need an IEP for speech therapy in FCPS elementary school. Its a process.

[Anonymous]

Yes,FCPS has speech therapist in all schools. But as mentioned in the earlier post, 'if the issue does not impact educational performance it is not addressed'.
It is called as the educational model of speech services.
Unfortunately, concerns like stuttering are not addressed early on in school which results is worsening of the problem later on.
IEP is a long process to get qualified for services even speech and if it does not impact education it is not addressed.

Try looking for private speech therapy which may be covered under your medical insurance.
Speech therapy at county health department is also another option.

I would highly recommend go for speech evaluation before the stuttering worsens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although they do have ST at all schools, I can't imagine your child would qualify as it would nee to cause an educational impact big enough that your child struggles to access the curriculum. Clearly this is not the case for your child. Therefore, you will need to go private. Your insurance might cover it, so you should check with them.

Expressing yourself verbally is considered an educational skill and is addressed in the learning standards, so kids with articulation and fluency issues can often qualify even if their other academic skills are on grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Although they do have ST at all schools, I can't imagine your child would qualify as it would nee to cause an educational impact big enough that your child struggles to access the curriculum. Clearly this is not the case for your child. Therefore, you will need to go private. Your insurance might cover it, so you should check with them.

Expressing yourself verbally is considered an educational skill and is addressed in the learning standards, so kids with articulation and fluency issues can often qualify even if their other academic skills are on grade level.

In order to be found eligible for for speech therapy services through the school, a child must have an IEP. In order to qualify for an IEP, a child must have a disability and because of that disability must have special education and related services. The disability must fall into one of the categories identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997 (IDEA) lists 13 disability categories:

Autism
Deafness
Deaf-blindness
Hearing impairment
Mental retardation
Multiple disabilities
Orthopedic impairment
Other health impairment
Serious emotional disturbance
Specific learning disability
Speech or language impairment
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment, including blindness

Unless OP's DS is identified or considered a child with a disability, he will not be able to get speech therapy services through the school. I have a kid with articulation/fluency issues. He gets speech therapy not because of those issues but because he has a communication disorder which is considered "Other Health Impairment". The school ST works on retrieval/working memory/phonemic awarenes/etc. We have to go private for articulation and fluency issues. (We're in FCPS). The school will also not provide 1:1 speech therapy.

[Anonymous]

Unless OP's DS is identified or considered a child with a disability, he will not be able to get speech therapy services through the school. I have a kid with articulation/fluency issues. He gets speech therapy not because of those issues but because he has a communication disorder which is considered "Other Health Impairment". The school ST works on retrieval/working memory/phonemic awarenes/etc. We have to go private for articulation and fluency issues. (We're in FCPS). The school will also not provide 1:1 speech therapy.

Wow. Times have changed. I taught many years ago and the speech therapist was the one who decided if the child needed help. Some of the kids had serious issues, some not. She was really good and I taught several kids who benefited from her help. Some only went for a short time.

[Anonymous]

All kindergarteners get a screening for speech by the speech language therapist that is assigned to the school. All schools have an SLT--he or she may be at the school full-time or may serve several schools and assigned specific days at each school.

In the fall, all kindergartners are given a screening by the SLT. If there are concerns, the parents are brought in for a local screening meeting to sign off on further testing. I've worked at several FCPS schools, and this screening has always happened. A parent can also do their own referral and request an evaluation. The local screening committee would meet to determine if further testing is warranted.

I'm not sure where the poster at 18:13 is getting her/her information because we definitely provide services for kids with articulation and fluency issues with no other disability.

--an FCPS elementary administrator