Speech therapy in the public school system (while I'm homeschooling)

[ChristusG]

DD is about to starte kindergarten in the fall, here at home. At 20 months old she began speech therapy through our early intervention program. She went in with no words and emerged a year later with a large vocabulary. However, her articulation was not good but her speech teacher said that would come with time. Well, four years old came and she was still not talking clearly. Her vocabulary was normal and she spoke in sentences well, but she was still hard to understand, even by us sometimes. So I contacted the early intervention program again, who directed me to a group called Child Find, who got her into speech therapy at the local public elementary school this past school year.

 

The teacher was really nice and claimed the my DD was making progress, however I do not hear any changes in her speech in everyday talking. She went two days a week, for 30 minutes each time, all throughout last school year.

 

Is it bad that I'm thinking of not sending her back this coming year? I just do not feel that she is making any progress. The teacher will be calling me right before the school year starts to set up her schedule. I know I have a while, but I do not know what to tell her. Should I have my daughter in some type of speech therapy? When I hear other 5 year olds talk, I am amazed at how clear they sound. I have trouble understanding what she says at times. She is smart enough that she finds another way to say it, or does a gesture that I will understand, but she needs to learn to speak clearly.

 

Am I awful for wanting to pull her out? Not to mention that is cuts into our homeschool day when I have to leave the house twice a week, drive up to the school, sit there while she has her session, drive home, and then try to get back into the swing of school time.

 

Should I keep her there? I mean, it is free. I dont think our insurance will pay for private therapy. Should I just hope that her speech gets better with time? But the earlier she gets corrected, the easier it will be, right?

 

I'm just not sure what to do. Any suggestions? Anyone been there, done that? A friend of mine suggests that maybe she has an auditory processing disorder? In time, that will affect her learning as well. Especailly reading. Should I just wait to see how she does in reading this year to see if I think she has an APD? Maybe just sit tight this year and wait things out? The only thing is, if I wait this year out and I want to get her back into public school speech, I think I will probably have to go through all the hoop-la that I did to get her there in the first place....it was a pain with all the paperwork, the evaluations, the IEP meetings, etc. :::Sigh::: I'm so lost.

Edited June 18, 2009 by ChristusG

[swimmermom3]

Please get her hearing checked if you haven't already. Sometimes ears can look very clear at the pediatrician's office. However, a typanogram may reveal that there isn't movement in the middle ear. Words may sound as though they are spoken under water. This can be reflected in her speech. I may not have the details exactly right as it's been a few years since we walked this road with our ds.

[Cindyg]

Yes, I think you should keep her in speech therapy. Is it possible you could swing private therapy for a while? If your main goal is to avoid the paperwork of public school.

 

My experience: We got two years of speech therapy from the public school. My son was much improved, but not finished. He was actually discouraged that he couldn't get the last couple of sounds right. The public school said he had improved so much that he no longer qualified for therapy. :(

 

In great frustration, I took him to a private therapist, which we paid for ourselves; but it wasn't outrageously expensive. The private therapist worked with him privately (not in a group situation) and resolved his problem in just a few months. He finished happily, and has never had a problem since.

 

(I'm not really saying the private therapist was that much better than the PS therapist. Just that the public school wasn't willing to finish the job. They got him "good enough" by their standards.)

[Stacie]

I've been in a similar position as you so I have some thoughts on the matter. First, as another poster said, confirm there are no other issues such as hearing. Then if you keep her in the therapy, use the time with the therapist to watch and learn. Two hours a week will not likely have drastic results, but if you wish to see bigger jumps you'll have to continue working with her at home as well. Ask the therapist what exactly you need to be doing at home and make it part of your daily routine. Do not let it rest. You spend many, many more hours with her and, working in conjunction with the therapist, you can help her improve and see the results you are hoping and praying for. Good luck!!

[Mommyof4ks]

Yep, another in agreement about a hearing test. Private therapy around here is soooo much better than the ps, but that probably varies around the country. If you can swing the therapy privately give it a try this summer.

 

As someone else said daily instruction is key. I worked with my son several times a day for 10-15 minutes at a time and repeated sounds that he said wrong in a correct way which helped him alot. We did lots of sing songy type things too focusing on the sounds that he needed help on. He is doing great now with no further issues.

 

Don't get discouraged, keep looking until someone can help!

[Peggy in Va]

Please get her hearing checked if you haven't already. Sometimes ears can look very clear at the pediatrician's office. However, a typanogram may reveal that there isn't movement in the middle ear. Words may sound as though they are spoken under water. This can be reflected in her speech. I may not have the details exactly right as it's been a few years since we walked this road with our ds.

 

:iagree:If she hasn't already had testing done by an ENT,please do so. And yes, I would keep her in therapy.

 

My youngest ds was in speech therapy for 4-5 yrs.. which we started through Child Find. He had asymptomatic ear infections and wasn't diagnosed until he was 2 1/2. In addition to that, when he didn't have an infection, he had fluid in his ears which made everything sound as if his head were under water.

 

His primary care dr was not quick to respond to my concern about his lack of speech/sounds when he was a year old. His attitude was that his brother, who is only 16 mo older for him did all the talking for him and that I anticipated he needs. When he was two he said if it's not any better by 2.5 bring him back. At 2.5 he happened to see a different dr at the practice, mentioned it to him, and he immediately wrote a referral.

 

When we finally got him to the ENT at Children's the dr asked if he had a history of infections. He had had one that I knew of. Dr's response, "Well, you certainly would know if he was having infections because of the symptoms." Dr. examines ds ears and he had full blown infections in both ears. No fever, no tugging, no complaining.

 

When I say asymptomatic, what I really mean was that he did not have the usual symptoms. He did not run a high fever, but he did run a very, very low grade one. He didn't tug at his ears, but he did hit his head on the floor and even on the brick around the fireplace. He would also lie on the floor and rock back and forth. When I mentioned these things to his dr., except for the fever as I didn't know he was running one, he said he was trying to soothe himself and not to worry. :confused:

 

All that said, even if nothing shows up, I cannot urge you enough to follow through on this.

[Peggy in Va]

Not to mention that is cuts into our homeschool day when I have to leave the house twice a week, drive up to the school, sit there while she has her session, drive home, and then try to get back into the swing of school time.

 

We ran into this same problem, it is such a pain. Perhaps instead of going in the middle of the day, you could schedule the session for early in the morning. We did that for a couple of years and it worked much better.

 

Good luck.

[adams101]

My ds11 has been in speech for 2 years. We knew he needed it before, but ps didn't get the ball rolling. Anyway, I didn't notice a difference for a long time. He has improved now, but he hasn't made it a habbit to talk correctly all the time. I was happy when the school told me that even though we will HS next year, they will continue his speech. He is almost there, but has to make it a habbit. He can say the words when he thinks about it. We didn't see a huge improvement until recently. I would stick with it. It will be worth it in the long run!

[Avila]

Two suggestions, neither of which may work for you!

 

First, have the child tested by an independent speech therapist and audiologist, not the district. My insurance covered this, even though it does not cover therapy, so you may want to check if this is an option. This gives you something you can take back to the district.

 

Also, you may want to check and see if you have any other therapy options besides the district. I first called my isurance to find out where to be tested, and then I got a list from the testing clinic of what my options might be for therapy. In my area, we had a Shriner's hospital, two children's hospitals, and three area universities. The universities have speech therapy Master's programs, and they offer fairly low-cost clinics for area children. It isn't free, but you aren't at the mercy of the district and they aren't interested in your private business or in doing IEPs outside of the area they specialize in. The clinics are done by people in the MA program, with heavy supervision from the supervising clinicians. We got into one of these clinics and have been very pleased with the results so far.

 

Good luck!

[Tap]

I agree with everyone else to keep at it.

 

If you are not sitting in on the sessions, make sure you do. Have them explain everything to you. Let the therapist run the session, but sit in the room. Take notes and get instruction at the end of the session so you know exactly what to do at home. Ask her to show you the year long goals, the immediate goals and monitor the progression of these. I would also want to know what is typical for your child's age in the progression of the specific goals. There are some sounds that just develop later. I would hate to see her working with skills that are later developing skills, when there are younger skills that are not yet covered.

 

I also agree with looking around to see what else is available. We have various programs in our area, and while most are through the school district, there are several that have other options.

[ChristusG]

Thanks for all of the replies!!

 

We have had her hearing tested on several occasions. First was when she was being evaluated for speech therapy at 20 months. That was tested by an ENT who did a more "in depth" hearing test. Then she had it tested at her 4 year old appt in the ped's office. Then she had it tested again at during her 4th year when she was being screened for therapy in the public school system. And finally, it was tested a few months ago at her 5 year check up.

 

Also, she has only had one ear infection in her life. At first the Early Intervention program was wondering if she had verbal apraxia (right before she turned two), but that was quickly dismissed after a few months of therapy.

 

I think I'll look into other therapy options in the area. And if I cannot find anything, we will just keep her in the public school system. Thanks so much for everyone's input!