Lang Syne Boardie Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 We're in Indiana. I've never dealt with the public schools for anything, so I'm not sure where to look or how to start. My son is seven, and his poor articulation has seriously worsened recently since he lost all his front teeth. Any Hoosiers with experience? Or SLP experts who can tell me what the first step is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Not from Indiana or even the US so my experience won't matter much, things are done very differently in Canada than in the US. You guys don't have health units that focus on SLP, OT, vax's etc do you? Out here you see your dr if you are sick(or for well child checkups), but you see the nurse at the health unit for a vax, or see the LC there for breastfeeding, or the SLP or OT for assessment and treatment etc. Out here they work in the ps too but we are not allowed to access them. When we lived in the city I could not get SLP or OT for my oldest once he hit school age because they were not offered at all outside of the schools. In our rural location the province recognizes that farm families are different than urban families and so these services are avail through the health unit even for school aged children. Do you have anything like that there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Anyone can request an evaluation under the IDEA act regardless of PS enrollment. However, the district may not provide any services to students unless they enroll. You'll have to find out your local district's policy. Some districts sponsor independent study programs that will allow the student to receive special ed services without being in a classroom FT. However, for my district's ISP, I'd have to use the approved district curriculum and have the student meet with a teacher once per week to review work. The student would also have to take the state standardized test in the spring. That's a lot of strings attached for my taste... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Call your local district's special ed department and ask. I'm not in IN, but here if a problem that the public schools provide services for is causing an educational impact to a child, services can be provided for a homeschooled or private schooled child as well. Now, they don't have to make it easy or convenient, but they do have to go through the process to decide if the child qualifies and offer services if they do. I think for a homeschooler it would usually take a pediatrician referral as the first step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 I don't know the specific laws in Indian but here I just called the school I was zoned for, had a meeting with the special Ed coordinator and the SLP, came back for the speech evaluation for my son, and then they drew up the IEP and we came back a third time to sign that. Then I just took him to the school during the speech class twice per week. They did it 3 times per week but allowed my son to come only twice because we only had one car at the time. They were wonderful to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayb842 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 We don't live in Indiana but have experience with both the private setting and public school. Ds needed help in public school last year. He was put in a lab setting and was found with one sound problem. After nothing changing in his speech in the lab setting I took to a private clinic. He had five sounds they found as a problem and a problem with using conjunctions correctly. We have gone for a year and will be done in the next month. Our insurance covered most of it. If you can just get him evaluated in a private setting it may be worth it. It’s just my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 My son is in speech therapy at the local school. I just called up the school district and told them my concerns. They set up an evaluation, did the IEP process, and started up therapy. We go once a week for a 30 minute private session. They know I'm homeschooling. I don't know if it will differ in Indiana, but it never hurts to call and ask about services. You can say no at any time in the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 If you have insurance coverage for it, the easiest thing may be to get a referral from your child's pediatrician to a SLP for an evaluation through a private clinic. Depending upon the results of the evaluation and your insurance coverage you could then elect to either continue with private speech services or you may decide at that point to proceed forward with trying to get services through the school. I'm in Indiana and that's the route I took, only when we had the private evaluation the SLP did not recommend services at this time so that's as far as we went. We had initially (a year prior) looked into going through the schools but it was really just a pain and the services they offered weren't great IMO & they weren't willing/able to work with me on scheduling. If you have Hoosier Healthwise speech is totally covered, FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 My ds was in speech and has OT. Our dr just sent a referral to our local hospitals rehab dept and our insurance covers it. If you don't want to bother with the ps then check what your insurance will cover and talk to your dr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3peasinWa Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 also, if the ps doesn't work out - The Eagles will pay for SLP's for those that qualify. They come to your house. http://www.foe.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 Thank you all very much! I didn't think to ask his pediatrician. I'd certainly prefer to go that route if our insurance will cover it. I'll start there. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyinMD Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Insurance will usually pay for a speech evaluation. We opted to do private speech evaluations rather than involve the PS because the eval was all we could get. At least in our district you must enroll to get speech therapy. My 7 yo son does private speech therapy every other week for an articulation disorder. Our insurance does not cover speech therapy for articulation so unfortunately we pay entirely out of pocket on it. I am hoping to pay for most of it this year with our flex spending account which should help some. It has helped his reading so immensely that it is so worth it. He previously could not even say many sounds it sure it made it hard to sound out words. Our insurance does cover speech therapy for many different things but articulation is not one of them. My son with Autism has it covered with a $15 copay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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