When and how to start speech therapy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can ask for an assessment. fyi: TPES won't do anything involving speech therapy in the school unless there's an academic issue involving the speech.

OP here, thanks for the info....
academically the teacher says she is doing great and very engaged. This was the first time that I realized it could actually be a problem since she was called on a few times while I was observing.

Should i assume that if the teacher hasn't said anything yet, we should just look to hire someone ourselves?

Document this via an email expressing concern about what you saw to the teacher. Is she also having trouble being understood by peers? Previous poster was right -- if speech is interfering with her ability to be properly understood the first time, then it is "adverse impact" on academics even if your child's "grades" aren't being affected. For example, having to repeat oneself frequently in front of others can affect self-esteem and the willingness to answer questions and participate in discussion, even though those might not affect "grades".

Demonstrating "adverse impact" is one of the prongs of the test to achieve an IEP or to receive services or 504 plan. (The others are a documented disorder and the need for specialized instruction, but this latter is only for an IEP).

FWIW, our child had a clear speech disorder, diagnosed by an SLP. We asked MCPS to provide services. The MCPS SLP refused saying that these speech difficulties are considered a normal part of development until age 7 and therapy would not be provided because our DS' speech could still normalize on its own before age 7. Even by age 9, MCPS SLP was still insisting it was "normal" development (not professionally accurate), then that even though the lisp persisted no services were required because he could still be understood. Finally, when we won services, MCPS would only do 1/2 hour 2x a month -- a totally inadequate amount. In retrospect, I wish I had just ignored the system and taken him in for private speech therapy when he was young.

Now at age 9 we are doing therapy, and he is making good progress, but I wonder if it would have been easier/faster if we had done it at a younger age.

Thanks for all this great info.
The school SP said exactly that - this was normal for her age and that if they teacher had not notified her of an issue then there probably wasn't one.
They said that if she is able to make herself understood by repeating herself then she is doing appropriate things for a child her age.
She also said that if we were concerned to ask the teacher about it at the PT conference.

As you mention, my main concern is the self-esteem thing associated with having to repeat yourself all the time.

Should i take this any further or wait to see if it gets better in a couple of months?

I'm sorry it took so long for MCPS to give your son the help he needed!

[Anonymous]

If you can afford it, I would look into private speech therapy. (Your health insurance may cover it.) You could also meanwhile also push for the school to do something.

If you can't afford it, then definitely push harder... But also there is a lot of stuff on line. One of my child's articulation problems was velar fronting (d for g, and t for k), and we were able to correct that one ourselves at home. Though not the other problems, alas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have yo pay for UMD screening or is it a public service? My DS has speech issues in 3rd grade but MCPS won't provide therapy because he is above grade-level in reading.

It is a private-pay speech clinic.

It doesn't matter if he is above grade level. If his speech interferes with his education he is entitled to services under federal law. My son received speech services for several years, including during his time at the HGC.

Good resources for you are:

http://www.speechbuddy.com/blog/legal-issues/surviving-the-iep-meeting/

http://www.bravekids.org/families-caregivers/education-planning/managing-your-childs-iep/effective-iep-meetings-advice-from-a-parent/

http://www.kidstogether.org/IEP/iepd-10-mistakes.htm

[Anonymous]

Agree that you should go private. My son is now 9 and we, too, are going to have to go private to get anything done. Schools have been very clear that they won't expend resources for child as he's academically doing fine.

But everyone who hears him, teachers, doctor, etc., all agree he has a speech issue. B/c he's confident and it doesn't affect his academic performance, school won't do anything.

[Anonymous]

OP -

If you have the resources, I would highly recommend a private eval and going to a private speech therapist. Early intervention is key.

The public school system will take 9 months to even identify your child (an IEP screening meeting, then an evaluation meeting, then right the damn document). Until the IEP is written, your child cannot receive speech services. That will put you at about March. Then realize by June, the speech services will end only to resume the following September. Services are also offered in group settings so your child will be lumped into therapy sessions with other students.

Privately, you can make an appointment within the next month, have your child evaluated and given a plan for treatment. In most cases, your child receives one on one services and attention during therapy. Your child will progress faster and probably do better than waiting on the public system to fix the issue.

Option 3 would be to start private speech therapy while you wait for the school system to catch up and have their meetings. That way you can collect data and speech assessments for the school meetings and your child isn't waiting for services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have yo pay for UMD screening or is it a public service? My DS has speech issues in 3rd grade but MCPS won't provide therapy because he is above grade-level in reading.

It is private pay, but rates are considerably subsidized compared to true private. Cost is about $50/50 minute session. Insurance paid for 75% of that.