Anyone have a child who receives speech therapy from a public school?

[Samiam]

We are going through the school system to seek speech therapy for my DS6. He's almost 7 and those cute little toddler words, lacking L's, R's and W's, aren't quite so cute at this age.

 

We already went a preliminary testing, where they do hearing, eyesight, IQ type stuff and basic speech....I guess that is to rule out other issues (which I knew were all fine but nonetheless, that's their protocol).

 

Got a call back that yes, they would like to further evaluate his speech and we have a full speech testing schedule for next week. We are going to the school that we are zoned for it. The tester said it would take 30-60 minutes just depending on my son. I don't doubt that he will qualify for further speech services.

 

So let's say that happens...he qualifies...what kind of services can I expect? Do you have experience using speech therapy at a public school as a homeschooler? Good or bad?

[happypamama]

I don't have experience going through the public school, but I wanted to tell you that we sought speech therapy (through our health insurance) for our 7yo almost a year ago, and we're really glad we did. Our therapist is wonderful, and it's made a huge difference for our son. I hope it is a positive experience for you as well.

[*Lulu*]

I have used PS speech services for two of my children. Overall it has been a very good experience and as a homeschooling family I have found the school to be pretty neutral. Except for the school staff member who tried to get Sister to say she would rather go to school there, in three years we have had no negative comments about homeschooling. As a matter of fact I have had several teachers and staff stop in the hall and complement both my children and the decision to homeschool.

 

Originally we had the choice of having services provided in our home or at the school, but had concerns about the child in question being able to focus in the allotted time with all the cool stuff to show the new person in our house. So instead we go once a week to our local elementary school and the children not receiving services sit with me in the hall and do school work. (Usually we do independent reading, but we have also worked on everything from Latin to Math. I had two teachers stop in the hall to look over Beast Academy the first time we used it at the school; they were interested in using it with students they tutor in the summer.)

 

I think, if it is not an environment of hostility to homeschoolers, the greatest issue to watch for is the skill of the staff working with your child. We have had 3 different speech therapists over the years and there has been a definite difference in thier ability levels. Also be aware that sometimes the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly and it can be quite a lag between the testing and the start of services. (This is a YMMV because some districts are really efficient in how they move people through and others are s-l-o-w like molasses in January.)

[chiguirre]

My well off suburban district has done a good job with both boys' st. They hire a part time therapist exclusively for GW's school so they're very familiar with asd issues and the kids' aba therapist can attend speech and work on homework the rest of the week.

 

Geezle is currently attending a social skills group and it's been a good experience for him. But the pps are right, you may or may not get good services from your local ps. It's worth trying to see if they're good or not, but if they're not, you'll have to switch to private therapy.

[kwg]

We started 10 sessions ago ( I know this b/c he gets a little sticker chart :p -pavlov's dogs here we come!) He likes it. It has been good. A few things led me to believe I was their first homeschooler. lol.

 

My son did announce he wanted to go to school which surprised me. I just mentioned he would not get to do x, y, and z then and he said oh, well then never mind and has not said a word since.

 

Sorry- we go twice a week and my district allots 30 sessions for homeschoolers/private schooled children. After that, we go to private therapy. I am really hoping that we can get more sessions somehow but I doubt it.

[Susan in TN]

My SIL is a speech therapist and one thing she mentioned to me is that she would love it if her students' parents would ask her for therapies they could do daily at home with them (and then actually do them, of course :)). Progress can be made so quickly with daily work - much more than with the one or two sessions per week they get with her.

[jkwynn]

This is our second year doing speech therapy through our local elementary school.

 

Pre-k age he went 2x/week for 2 hrs a day. We dropped him off in front of the school right after lunch - the whole class met there, some kids came from other VPK programs on a bus, and the teacher came out to walk them all back to the room as a group. We picked him up in the regular car line. There were 4 or 5 other kids in the class, one speech therapist, and one assistant.

 

This year, k, he goes 2x/week for 30 minutes a day. We just meet the speech therapist in the office/lobby area, and he goes with her to the class (with one other kid at a time from another k class, I assume, it's a different kid each day) - while he is with her, I sit in the parking lot in the van. When the older kid is with me, we'll do one-on-one work with him - like go over the grammar lesson, read-aloud, history reading or worksheets, etc.

 

He's not compulsory age for our state (FL) so technically, he's neither a student at the school nor a homeschool student. They did have me fill out some of the paperwork at the beginning of the year as if he was going to start school there, though. I was fine with that, but then in November it caused some confusion. I assume they incorrectly entered our info as if he were a public school student, even though we homeschool. So I got a call about that, since they didn't have a letter of intent on file (there wasn't one, because of his age) - I explained our situation, and the fact that the school board told me that I wasn't required to register him as officially homeschooled yet, and haven't heard anything else about it. They did call to let me know they were trying to figure out the coding (for funding or something maybe?) and not to worry about it. I offered to send a letter of intent anyway, didn't mind, but they said it wasn't necessary, and that they would take care of it.

 

We've liked both therapists, and the teacher-student ratio. Our school is an "A" rated school. I guess the only thing I would change is the short sessions. If he only qualifies for an hour of speech per week, I wish he could do that hour in one day, instead of splitting it up. One of the days he does speech is when several co-ops and other homeschool activities (like PE!) take place.

 

ETA: We do get "homework" from the therapist. She gives me the worksheet of words and sounds they go over in the class, and we work on it each day until we go back. It's just words or phrases to practice. Like this week we have "ch" sounds, so there are nine pictures with phrases like "choose cheese" or whatever under them. Last year, the therapist would also tell me things like "have him smile when he says this" to get the correct pronunciation. We've come a long way, but there are still many times that I just have to tell him to slow down and use his best words, b/c I don't know what he's saying. He is 5 now.

[happypamama]

My SIL is a speech therapist and one thing she mentioned to me is that she would love it if her students' parents would ask her for therapies they could do daily at home with them (and then actually do them, of course :)). Progress can be made so quickly with daily work - much more than with the one or two sessions per week they get with her.

 

Are there programs where it's NOT expected that the parents will do practices at home? Our speech therapist insists on that, so she sends home exercises and practices that take me 5-10 minutes a day to do with each boy. When I was in speech therapy back in the 80s, I had homework too. I can't imagine that my boys would have progressed so well if they only did speech practice during the hour each week they're with the therapist.

[katilac]

My oldest dd went for a year when she was 4/5. Great therapist, great results. No one ever tried to persuade us to attend the school, but then again we could usually bypass the office and go directly to the portable classroom, so we only saw our therapist and her partner on a regular basis.

 

I think it all depends on the therapist, whether you go via the school system or privately. For results, that is. The level of friendliness and/or propaganda is going to depend on the school, but really you just need to make up your mind to not let things bother you. They can't make you go to public school, kwim?

[*Lulu*]

My SIL is a speech therapist and one thing she mentioned to me is that she would love it if her students' parents would ask her for therapies they could do daily at home with them (and then actually do them, of course :)). Progress can be made so quickly with daily work - much more than with the one or two sessions per week they get with her.

 

That is one thing all 3 therapists we have worked with have been wonderful about. I ask the first session with a new person about what we can do at home, and then am faithful to do it. The first therapist we worked with was floored at how fast we made progress. She confided in me that the majority of her students did not get extra practice at home, so she was thrilled to see that we never regressed over breaks because we worked so much even when school was not in session.

[katilac]

My SIL is a speech therapist and one thing she mentioned to me is that she would love it if her students' parents would ask her for therapies they could do daily at home with them (and then actually do them, of course :)). Progress can be made so quickly with daily work - much more than with the one or two sessions per week they get with her.

 

She should offer it, not wait for people to ask. Many people won't realize they could or should ask about it; they will leave such things to 'the expert,' particularly in lower socio-economic areas.

 

We were given a work folder and very much expected to work at home. It was just routinely presented as part of the therapy. I'm sure some people didn't do it, of course, but set the expectation and many will.

[busymama7]

My son was severely delayed and qualified for preschool last year at age three. We did send him for the last four months of school. He had mostly speech issues but because it was so severe they couldn't really evaluate his developmental level.

He made HUGE leaps in those four months. We opted to keep him home this year because as a homeschooling family we didn't like to shuffle him off to school everyday. I requested speech services to continue and at first they didn't know what to do since he was still in the system as a DD preschooler but they figured it out. They were astonished at how much progress he had made.

 

They ended up re testing him and removing his DD label and now he is speech only. The therapist is fabulous and everyone treats us very well. We go once a week for 1/2 hour. He could get 2x a week but that would be more challenging to our schedule and the once a week is working.

 

I will admit that I never mentioned that we homeschooled the other kids when he was being evaluated last year or when he was attending. I didn't want any bias :). But now that they know us they know and they have all been mostly positive. Especially the speech therapist because he recites poetry for her and she thinks the HS environment has been really good for him. :)

 

It did take forever! I called last August and he didn't start school until February. Again we did the preschool because we weren't sure if he had other delays and it was so severe we felt he needed the intervention. It worked well for us but I hated to send him :(

[MyLittleWonders]

Ds9 did speech in the PS as a 3 and 4 year old. (He didn't need any past that age, though at the time, no one knew if he would qualify as a Ker if he didn't attend school even though K isn't compulsorary; we were told definitely once he hit six, he'd only receive services if enrolled in PS.) At first the school wanted us to enroll him in a speech preschool, but we declined and opted for the in-school speech sessions a few times a week. The first year he went 3 times a week for 1/2 hour each day. It was tough, but I had a very intense infant and a 5 year old who I tried to keep entertained in the car (not enough time to go anywhere except walk around the block, which we did on good days). The second year he went 2 times a week for 1/2. That school was closer to our house (they only had PreK speech at certain schools in our district), so the overall time gone was much less (the first school was kind of on the other side of town). I'm gearing up mentally for the same thing to start next fall when dd nears 3, as unless she has amazing strides in speech this year at home, she will probably qualify.

[sbgrace]

One of mine has received speech therapy in two different school districts due to a move.

 

In both districts we received drop in services once a week. One was for an hour (too long really!) and the other is for 30 minutes. Both therapists have given me things to work on at home. For me it's been very valuable to have an expert monitor progress. Particularly I want someone to tell me when he can produce a sound correctly. I don't want to work at home on a speech sound that isn't correctly formed and some of those r positions are hard to hear/feel certain about for me.

[bnbacademy]

Ds received speech therapy at the local ps about 7 years ago. For 2 semesters we drove to the school for 20 min sessions. He was tested for all kinds of developmental things while being qualified for speech. I thought that the other things were a bit excessive, but was open to help if needed. Frankly, the principal and speech teacher were very willing to help, I think I was the one looking for judgment that was not there. I appreciate and am grateful for the help he received, we did all homework as recommended. Our speech therapist knew what she was doing, and everything was fixed!

[J-rap]

My daughter did speech therapy at the PS for about two years, due to hear hearing loss. The therapists (she met with both a speech therapist and a hearing person, regularly) were wonderful, and very compassionate. They didn't care at all that she was homeschooled, and in fact one of them wants to homeschool her own daughters when they are old enough. :)

[Susan in TN]

 

 

Are there programs where it's NOT expected that the parents will do practices at home? Our speech therapist insists on that, so she sends home exercises and practices that take me 5-10 minutes a day to do with each boy. When I was in speech therapy back in the 80s, I had homework too. I can't imagine that my boys would have progressed so well if they only did speech practice during the hour each week they're with the therapist.

 

She has worked in a therapy center and a school system and she said most parents wouldn't even consider doing things at home. She said a couple of parents were eager to work with their kids, but the majority not.

[redsquirrel]

My younger son has been receiving speech, PT and OT through early intervention and now the public school since he was 2. He is now considered a second grader.

 

It is going to depend on your state, your district and the particular therapist. I happen to live in a state where homeschoolers get equal access to therapies as public school students. Other people here have said they have a very different experience.

 

Generally, our therapy experience has been great. We have been treated very well by the school, which is nice because I am there all the time during his therapy. At one point I was there for 7 therapy sessions a week. Some therapists give 'homework' and others do not. I always, always ask for it and hardly ever is is given.

 

One of the biggest challenges is frequent turnover. Every school year we have had a different speech therapist. Each of those years the speech therapist has gone out on maternity leave. That means at least 4 speech therapists in 2 school years. It might have been more. We have a new one right now (baby was due on Christmas) and I can tell you right now, after two sessions, that she does not inspire confidence.

 

So, know your state regs as to what they allow. Ask around you local homeschoolers group as to what their experience has been like. Make sure you know what your child is entitled to and hold the school to that. Yes, they are broke, yes they don't have enough therapists. That is not your problem. If you enrolled your kid in school they would have to figure it out.

 

Oh, and don't expect your kid to have individual therapy sessions. Speech therapy at the elementary age is generally done in groups. Try for individual of course, but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen. But, do try very hard to have the group as small as possible. Ask for a 2:1 group (two kids to one therapist)

[tabrizia]

DS has been recieving speech at school since slightly before he turned 4. We started his evaluations when he was 3 1/2. For the first year and a half, until K this year, he had private sessions at first once a week and the following year twice a week for 30 minutes. He always did the extended school year speech program both years (which was only 4 weeks, but it was something at least). This year in K he goes 2 times a week to a speech class with 2 other kids. He is improving though I do debate a private class occasionally. He is enjoying it and seems to be improving fairly decently, still. We drop him off the speech teacher grabs him and the two other Kindergarteners and they go to the speech room. She then brings him back to us at the front office when he is done and gives me or DH a 2 minutes sumary of what they have worked on. It is working well. He will need to be re-evaluated next fall, but he will likely continue on with speech for a few more years.

 

We have had a very positive experience with speech so far. I loved his teacher last year, who has since moved on. She even visited DS in the hospital when he was there after his accident a couple of times. We have never had an issue with the fact he is being homeschooled.

[Trilliums]

DS received ST through the public school system. The services offered varied not only by school district, but also within the individual schools. I called around until I found one that offered one-on-one services. It ended up being at the provider's home office so we did not even go to the school in order for him to have ST.

[Mergath]

My dd has been receiving speech therapy at the local elementary school for a couple of years now, and we haven't had any real problems. (She also goes to a playgroup sort of thing at the school once a week, and with THAT we've had all kinds of anti-hs issues. But not with the ST.) Because of her genetic diagnosis, she can basically get whatever services we want, all covered by the district. She meets with her therapist for thirty minutes twice a week. Her therapist is super nice, and dd has fun with it, but it's not really doing much good. They've been working on getting dd to pronounce the k sound correctly for the last year, lol. It's not hurting anything though, and dd enjoys it, so I keep bringing her.

[MooCow]

The public school district in my town has a homeschooling/private school speech pathology department. It is located in one of the schools, and my ds goes there for speech.

[Samiam]

Thanks, all good to know. I think, so far, our school district is doing better than expected. I put in an online request for an appointment, got a call back that day. An appointment scheduled for two weeks later. That was the 2nd week of Dec. got a call this past week confirming a full testing needs to be done, at the school, and have an appointment for coming week. So I feel the ball is rolling quickly, at least faster than I was expecting. Overall, we have a good school district in our area, from what I've heard/researched. Bit worried though when I read about group speech therapy...wonder how beneficial that would be.....maybe I need to call insurance...never thought to see if they would cover it.

[wapiti]

I have a ds who is still receiving speech therapy at 9 y.o., on an IEP at a public charter school. I can't say that the therapists have been of the highest quality, though it's more convenient for us than arranging private therapy after school.

 

Our district does not offer special ed services such as speech to homeschoolers.

[annandatje]

Our daughter was tested at the city school's Speech and Hearing Center and qualified for services. However, at the time, services to homeschoolers were limited.

 

She went twice a week to the local public elementary school a few blocks from our house for speech therapy. We were quite pleased with her dedicated and devoted speech therapist.

 

The speech therapist recommended evaluation by an occupational therapist. She also qualified for OT but that would have cut into her speech therapy due to the service limitations on students not enrolled in city school. We paid for a private OT. We stopped OT after a year or so of not seeing any visible improvement. We did not seek private OT.

 

After we moved to county a few years later, I hired a reasonably priced private speech therapist for a few years.

 

Edited to unbold text.

[redsquirrel]

Thanks, all good to know. I think, so far, our school district is doing better than expected. I put in an online request for an appointment, got a call back that day. An appointment scheduled for two weeks later. That was the 2nd week of Dec. got a call this past week confirming a full testing needs to be done, at the school, and have an appointment for coming week. So I feel the ball is rolling quickly, at least faster than I was expecting. Overall, we have a good school district in our area, from what I've heard/researched. Bit worried though when I read about group speech therapy...wonder how beneficial that would be.....maybe I need to call insurance...never thought to see if they would cover it.

 

 

Things move quickly because they are under legal mandate to move quickly. They have to document that they returned calls and got evals done within a certain amount of time or they are in violation of the law. One of the criticisms of such programs in the past has been that kids with real needs can languish waiting for the help they need. The Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal mandates require that calls be returned and evaluations completed in a timely fashion. So, they are just doing what the law requires.

 

Good luck with the health insurance. I have heard that some will cover one session every two weeks, but I am sure there are people with better coverage. I would rather have three group sessions a week than one individual session. Actually, my preference would be one group and one individual every week. My son recently went from three group sessions to one individual session and I feel like he is backsliding. We have a meeting soon and I am going to ask for one group session to be added back in.

[Crimson Wife]

Be aware that it may be exceedingly difficult to qualify for an IEP with only speech/language issues. Here in my state (CA), the ed code states that a student has to fall <7th percentile in at least 2 areas in order to qualify for a speech only IEP. My 2nd had articulation disorder and mild expressive delay and while he qualified for private ST through our insurance, he didn't qualify for an IEP because he didn't score low enough. His private therapist said that she felt the ed code was overly strict and that she felt students scoring <16th percentile (2 std. deviations below the mean) in any area needed therapy.

 

My little one qualified for ST automatically because of her autism diagnosis. The discrepancy annoys me, but I'm not in charge of writing the ed code.

[texasmama]

My two boys have received ST through the public school system. They received 30 minutes every other week when they were doing "walk in" ST, which is what it is called when the child is not enrolled in school and only attends ST. They had a very good therapist who worked diligently on articulation issues with good results.

[gingersmom]

I had horrible experiences with school speech therapy and pulled my son from it. The therapist were incompetent in my opinion. And I live in one of the top rated school districts in the state.

 

I put my son in private therapy 3 times a week with an amazing therapist. I seriously don't think he would be speaking if it was not for her.