Speech Therapy - What to Expect

[shinyhappypeople]

I've decided to pursue speech therapy for my 6 yo DD. Her speech seems to be getting less clear rather than more. We HS through a public charter school, so I'm hoping we can go through them to access free therapy.

 

So, what should we expect? What types of assessments are used? How long does a typical appointment last? Any advice or suggestions? I'm completely out of my element here.

[merry gardens]

I've decided to pursue speech therapy for my 6 yo DD. Her speech seems to be getting less clear rather than more. We HS through a public charter school, so I'm hoping we can go through them to access free therapy.

 

So, what should we expect? What types of assessments are used? How long does a typical appointment last? Any advice or suggestions? I'm completely out of my element here.

It will depend on your public school district. In our district, my son had to go through a screening first before getting a referal to a speech therapist. We later took him and our dd to a private therapist for an evaluation. Speech therapy evaluations consist of brief health and developmental history from the parents, discussion of parent's concerns, then the therapist works (more like plays and talks) with the child. The therapist is listening for specific sounds and blends and various other aspects of language development. Sometimes they do more testing, like phonemic awareness, but not always. Our school district's therapist did less testing that the private therapists did. It takes around an hour or longer to do the evaluation. The private therapist provided us with an overview after the testing and later a phone call followed by detailed written report with recommendations for treatment.

 

A child typically needs more severe problems to qualify for speech therapy through public schools. For example, my 7 yo has a lisp, but our public schools won't treat lisps at her age. The private therapist who evaluated her was willing to work her twice a week for half an hour if we were willing to pay privately. I jumped through the required hoops to get my son to see the school districts speech therapist when he was five, but he didn't qualify for therapy and the school's speech therapist did not do the phonemic awareness testing that a private therapist later determined to be the likely source of his speech problems. I have friends who use our school districts speech therapist and they have wonderful things to say about their experience. Their children qualified; mine didn't.

[Guest subuyoung]

The appointment should take about an hour. For additional help, you should look into having your child play with... my child's therapist recommended some of these apps - speech therapy ipad apps

[MLT]

It seems like the eval's were about an hour. Most of it was looking at pictures and talking about them. Like pp said - mostly just listening to what they are saying and what they need to work on. When my boys got ST through the public school it was once a week for 30 minutes. I wasn't actually there for the therapy sessions so I can't say what happened there.

 

However, we've also had private st's in the home and it is really a lot of "play therapy". The boys always loved it. My oldest is still in st and she has flash cards with words on them that they play memory or go fish with, she brings a fun game for every time and he has mouth exercises to work on. She meets with him twice a week for 45 minutes each.

[2squared]

My 7yo is receiving speech therapy through the public school. First he had two speech evaluations - about 20 min each. The therapist taped him and transcribed his speech. Then, she evaluated his "need" for therapy. He qualified easily :sad: so he now goes to the school for therapy twice a week. He would go more often, but the therapist is only contracted for two days/week with the school. Each session is 20 minutes long. We receive quarterly reports, and will have a full evaluation at the year mark. The therapy seems to be effective as his speech has improved.

 

Qualifying was quick and easy for us, but we are in a very small, very rural school district. I already knew everyone at the school and didn't have any administrative hoops to worry about. It took us less than two months between the first evaluation and his first therapy session, and that includes a legally required 14 day waiting period.

 

ETA: My ds's speech issues are with stutters, blocks, and holds.

[aly9712]

My dd (almost 7) receives speech therapy. She just started about 3 months ago and although she attends private school- we sought and receive services through the public school system (where we is zoned to attend). Anyway, the evaluation was about a solid hour and it was very informal and comfortable. It ranged from...give me another word for this....to pronounce these words.....to repeat back to me this sentence, etc.

 

Anyway, she was found eligible for articulation errors and a lisp. Good luck. Our current therapy is play based and we have nightly "play based homework".

[gingersmom]

If you can afford it I highly recommend going for private speech therapy. In my experience there is a huge difference between private speech therapy and what the public school offers.

 

My son started speech therapy at 18 months and ended at 8 years old.

[Shellers]

My son is 11 years old. His school has labeled him "speech impaired". He goes to speech therapy at school four days a week. The sessions are not one on one they are group. I'm not impressed by the speech therapist. She's very impatient with the kids. I can't count how many times I've seen her at the grocery store with a shopping cart full of wine.

 

My son has made very little improvement with his speech and he's been receiving therapy at school for 6 years now.

[Dobela]

If you can afford it I highly recommend going for private speech therapy. In my experience there is a huge difference between private speech therapy and what the public school offers.

 

My son started speech therapy at 18 months and ended at 8 years old.

In our area the child will only qualify for speech therapy if the school determines the delay is adversely effecting the child's school work. IE, if the teacher can't understand him, then he will qualify. If the teacher can understand him but peers are teasing him, he might not qualify. PS therapy is often 20-30 minutes long (so it doesn't disrupt classroom time) and is often done in a group setting. Plus, in our area, homeschoolers are so disliked that they are not given priority for therapy. They are 'worked in as space allows' and I can guarantee that very little space is ever available.

My son is 11 years old. His school has labeled him "speech impaired". He goes to speech therapy at school four days a week. The sessions are not one on one they are group. I'm not impressed by the speech therapist. She's very impatient with the kids. I can't count how many times I've seen her at the grocery store with a shopping cart full of wine.

 

My son has made very little improvement with his speech and he's been receiving therapy at school for 6 years now.

I would ask for a private referral. Many times insurance will pay. If it doesn't, speak to the private provider. They can tell you what other options you may qualify for.