Homeschool speech therapy?

[ChristusG]

I'm tired of taking time out of the middle of our days, twice a week to attend speech therapy. But I know that my DD5 needs it. I don't want to hinder her from speaking clearly as she gets older.

 

But why can't I do speech at home? Has anyone successfully done this? Or should I just leave it to the public school speech therapist that my DD saw last year and this year?

 

I mean, from what I gather, the teacher just works with her on tongue placement and then they practice saying words together. They color pictures while saying words. They may play a game while saying words and sounds. By the time we arrive at therapy, they walk to the portable all the way to the back, and then they have to leave before the half hour is up so that they can walk all the way back to the front office. They are really only working for probably 15 minutes out of the 30 minute time slot.

 

Will I get looked at like I'm an awful parent if I tell the therapist we are pulling her out of speech? She is a really nice lady and DD likes her, but it causes such a distraction right in the middle of our days.

 

I'm just wondering if anyone has done speech therapy at home?

[cin]

I'd probably quit if it was a half hour. We have it once a week for an hour. And yeah, they play alot of games. twice a week, I couldn't do. And honestly, I wouldn't do it if the OTHER daughter wasn't in OT, counseling and now Auditory Therapy. Speech not only helps the younger one talk better, but also boosts her self esteem, at this point.

[Quiver0f10]

I haven't used this so I can't comment on it http://nathhan.org/ResourceRoom/straight_talk.htm

Edited February 4, 2010 by Quiver0f10

[nukeswife]

:lurk5: I'll be watching this as my dd (8) is also in speech therapy. She's made great strides but we hate having to get up so early to go in for that stinking half hour. We don't have the walking to the place issues you have, but I honestly listen to what they do and think, "Well heck, I could do that"

[jenn-]

Starting in May I will have to take over the speech for the older boys. Our public schools are not required to provide it for homeschooled children. They are currently in the preschool jurisdiction by age (luckily they have late bdays). I will be watching this thread for suggestions.

[Mom-ninja.]

I have to pay out of pocket for speech therapy. They cut services for home school kids in my county.

 

After about 4 months of paying I decided to do it at home. Really, I just work on his sounds, lip/tongue movement, and such when we do his other lessons especially phonics. I also correct him when he is speaking at times.

 

I had Speechercize at one point. I used it a few times.

 

I've looked at LiPS, and covet it.

[Chrystal]

Americans with Disabilities Acts says they can't cut it out for you just because you are homeschooled. They must provide those same services that are offered to the students that are enrolled in thier school.

Right?

[LisaKinVA]

There were certain sounds I was able to work on... there were others, I didn't do so well with.

 

The ones that we had started to work on, she completed progress with the therapist in rapid speed. The other ones... took 24 more 1hr. sessions, PLUS time at home.

 

We still have to do regular work, because habits are hard to break. So, my answer is that "it depends." Having the extra time to focus exclusively on my dd didn't exist at home with 4 others needing attention. She needed the 1 on 1 to focus.

 

I hated the drive. I hated the time out of our day. But in the end, I feel that the sessions did for us what I may have been competent to do, but lacked the time, training and resources to do effectively.

[blessedmom3]

My son is 5 too and I didn't think it was worth the drive (with 4 kids under 6 in the car ! ) and my time to wait for just half an hour. I am teaching him how to read and the phonics is helping him a lot ! He is reading CVC words and pronouncing better now. I would recommend that too if your dd is not very delayed in speech . My son is 5 and has a speech at about 4-4 1/2 . Reading a lot helps too. Speechexercise is very cheap , I have it but I haven't used it much. Again , what is working the best for my son is phonics and a lot of reading .

[keptwoman]

I did it myself with DD. She was 4 and missing a lot of sounds, so I just worked on a sound at a time. It probably helped that we have done lots of SLT for stuttering which heavily involved the parent, but really, it was pretty easy.

[txbloobonnet]

Could you tell your therapist that you would like to meet with her on a consultation basis (like once a month or once a quarter) and she could go over therapy with you and your child to do at home? That way you have a little accountability and a way to check progress and adjust therapy as needed.

[hsm]

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=141&products_id=21231&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=141

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Speechercise-CD-Twin-Sisters-Productions/dp/B00028PW3A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1265260527&sr=8-1

 

http://www.amazon.com/Speechercise-Level-Musical-Workout-Mouth/dp/B0009IB5XE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1265260527&sr=8-2

 

http://www.nathhan.org/ResourceRoom/straight_talk.htm

 

Below are free resources:

 

http://www.speechtx.com/articulation.htm

http://www.quia.com/pages/speechersclass.html

http://www.angelfire.com/nm2/speechtherapyideas/

[Cera]

We have been homeschooling speech and our dd has made definite improvements.

 

She didn't qualify for services because she was only delayed in one area (and our school district is broke so they make you fight for services) so we made an appt to speak with the sp and explained that we wanted to work with her at home and needed some guidance. She gave us a general plan as well as suggestions for materials and a copy of the evaluations which list the areas of weakness she needs to work on.

 

We use Webber Phonology Cards and Games from superduperinc.com.

[PollyOR]

This is advertised on the FIAR board.

 

http://www.fiarhq.com/~gbprnhrz/forum/showthread.php?t=57773

http://web.me.com/boompa/Homeschool_small_talk/Welcome.html

[ElizabethB]

I like this:

 

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

[jenn-]

Americans with Disabilities Acts says they can't cut it out for you just because you are homeschooled. They must provide those same services that are offered to the students that are enrolled in thier school.

Right?

 

You would think so huh. Doesn't work that way though. There is a loophole that allows districts that cannot afford to continue services to stop them. What's really crazy is that they cover services for private schools and here, by using the cover school option, we are technically a satellite location for a private school. This does seem to fly as a qualifier though.

[JudoMom]

I'm using SuperStar Speech with my ds6 and we're making progress. I highly recommend it.

[RebeccaS]

I think it probably depends on the speech problem. My youngest ds came to us with a huge speech delay-he was 3 and on the speech level of an 18month old. He was missing entire letters. So, we'd get the beginning of a word and not the end, or the end and not the beginning, or he'd totally miss the middle. I am ok to work on letter like L where I can tell him exactly how to move his mouth to make the sound. However, with letters like J or R I was stumped. He's been in speech for almost a year-once a week for 1/2 hr. It's a pain, for sure. His appointment is at 7:30 which means rising at 6:45 at the latest and not feeding anyone until we get home. However, he has made amazing progress in that year. We can all understand him and he's just got a few sounds he needs to master in order to be officially age appropriate. While his appointments are quite short, we always have homework for the week and we work throughout the day with correcting his speech. In my case, I am very happy to work with a speech therapist. It's been wonderful. Good luck deciding! :001_smile:

[Pippen]

You would think so huh. Doesn't work that way though. There is a loophole that allows districts that cannot afford to continue services to stop them. What's really crazy is that they cover services for private schools and here, by using the cover school option, we are technically a satellite location for a private school. This does seem to fly as a qualifier though.

 

Unless it's changed since then, there was a law change about 8 years ago that means the districts don't need to provide equivalent services. If a student is in a parent placed private setting (including private school, private preschool, and homeschool) then the district only is required to provide a miminal amount of services. When it comes to speech for a student placed in another setting it usually amounts to consult and maybe one session per week. States and districts may go beyond, but they're not required to.