WWYD - speech therapy from public school or private speech therapy

[dex_millie]

I am trying to figure out the difference between the both and if one is "better" than the other. Last August DS was evaluated for speech (the ones that come to your house) but they said he didn't qualify (which in my opinion he needs it). They said wait and see if things progress, which they did but it is still not as good as I hear other three year olds. His preschool teacher also said he needed it.

If you had the choice would you go to the public school or have it done privately (it says we have to pay a $10 copay, so I am assuming for every visit we pay it, but that is something we can do).

[artgoddess]

I'm a little confused, the public school will now cover the speech therapy? If they will I'd go that route. My son had a few months of speech therapy at our neighborhood school when he was 5 and it was awesome. I don't know if I would have done it as early as 3 years old. My son was a really late talker and so I accepted that the way he pronounced things was a little "behind" the norm for his age. He improved a lot on his own and just a couple small things that needed attention by 5.

[Kirsten]

Very likely that the public school speech path and the private speech path went to the same college and/or have the same educational background.

If you went to school, is it the same one he'd attend for elementary? That would be a good prep so he would walk in on the first day of K already comfortable and "knowing" that school.

Which is closer?

Are there any costs involved with the school one?

I have a speech path degree, and two of my close friends work as speech therapists - one private and one public. They are both great. They both have the same number of years of education.

[dex_millie]

Originally Posted by artgoddess

I'm a little confused, the public school will now cover the speech therapy? If they will I'd go that route. My son had a few months of speech therapy at our neighborhood school when he was 5 and it was awesome. I don't know if I would have done it as early as 3 years old. My son was a really late talker and so I accepted that the way he pronounced things was a little "behind" the norm for his age. He improved a lot on his own and just a couple small things that needed attention by 5.

The public school is free. The private a will have to pay a $10 copay (each time I am assuming).

He is not just a little behind for his age. He also has a 6 year old cousin that is speech therapy the two of them seem to be similar. He does not speak in sentences, when he does it is mumbling with the last word or two being understood, has a problem with prononcing words, sometimes DH and I try to figure out his new words even his old words. For example:vitamin = bi-e-in (and it changes at times when he talks too fast). We just had a teacher/parent conference and he is doing fine except for speech/communication everything to do with it has a X by rarely. If he is anything like his cousin he will be in speech therapy even at 6.

I can tell he understand the concept like "I want to close the car door' but instead he say 'close door'. One time he saw a electronic toothbrush on tv like what daddy uses and he was just pointing saying 'daddy, daddy'...so I said 'oh that looks just like daddy toothbrush'..him 'yea, daddy toothbrush'..he needs it..I have struggle with this decision for a while telling myself his speech will get better while it does it is very slow. It gets worst when we are at the playground and he doesn't even answer simple questions that kids his age or younger ask him.

Oh..he will not be going to the school where it will be conducted. I heard the public schools in this area is not good - that is from someone who use to work there, she said it used to be fine but it went downhill and does not advise be to send my children there. I am putting him in a private school though and may homeschool him for 2-3years.

[artgoddess]

Just so you know my son did not attend the neighborhood school he received his therapy. I home schooled for a while and he now attends a charter school. The neighborhood school was a-okay with that. The speech therapist and I used to chat about home schooling and other options when his speech time was done.

You got to go with your gut, if you feel he needs help then he probably does. I was really happy with the therapist at our neighborhood school. If you don't like him or her you could always switch to the one your insurance partially covers.

[Geofizz]

Our school district only provides speech therapy before kindergarten if the kid falls below a really low level. If DS were below the 6th percentile in one aspect of speech, or below the 10% for two or more areas, then he'd qualify. The state requires the school district provide services, but the state leaves it up to the school district to set the criteria for qualifying for services.

DS scored 9th percentile for phonological something or other, 12th for articulation, and "moderately delayed" for expressive speech. So, our choice was private, or to wait another 6 months for DS to fall even further behind and *maybe* qualify.

We started with the private (and yes, the copay is every time), and in 19 sessions since last June, DS has almost erased the phonological delay, and we're making great strides on the articulation and expressive delays. He : his SLP. For us, the private route was the way to go. (And it's very clear to us the great strides are direct result of speech therapy and our support efforts of the SLP at home. He didn't just grow out of it.)

Remember that the copays qualify for medical FSA and is really predictable, so we hold out that copay in FSA to save on the taxes.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

I would go with the school.

Many therapists work for both a school district and practice privately or see other clients "on the side." So the quality really comes down to the individual therapist (heck you could end up with the same therapist!)

So go with the free, and then if your ds doesn't click with the therapist and there isn't another one that the school district uses check out private practice.

[DaughterOfKali]

If you feel your child is that much in need, I would do both. I would LOVE such a small copay for speech therapy!

I would do the school speech (1x/wk) and also a private speech therapist (1x/wk). So, at least twice a week

[crl]

I would see what you can get through the schools. If it seems inadequate, I would then supplement with a private therapist. DS has had excellent speech therapist through the schools.

Catherine

[dex_millie]

Thanks for the replies,

I am going to try with the school first hopefully he gets in. His pre-school teacher filled out a questionarre for them and commented that he will need speech therapy before K. Other than his speech he does everything else at his normal age and his 6 year old cousin is the same, he is in his 'correct class' but goes to speech therapy.

[LynnS6]

You may have quite a wait to get evaluated by the school district and get seen. If they aren't willing to see him at least once a week, I'd investigate private therapy. There's probably not a lot of difference in training between the school SLP and a private one, but there may be a big difference in terms of how soon/how often your son can be seen.

[mainemommy1]

My son receives speech therapy-it is private and we pay $20 co-pay each time we go (1 hour one time per week) I find that the private therapists are not over burdened with public school mandates-crazy schedules etc (when I taught in public school my students would only get 30min of pull out speech a week and that was it). In private therapy there just are not the interruptions that schools have. We also had early intervention therapy through a state funded program and I personally felt the quality was not as good as what we are getting in private therapy. Also, state funded and school therapy will likely involve IEP's, meetings etc. It seemed to really label the kid and focus only on what they could not do. I like the positiveness of private therapy. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense but it's just my personal experience.

[crl]

Originally Posted by mainemommy1

My son receives speech therapy-it is private and we pay $20 co-pay each time we go (1 hour one time per week) I find that the private therapists are not over burdened with public school mandates-crazy schedules etc (when I taught in public school my students would only get 30min of pull out speech a week and that was it). In private therapy there just are not the interruptions that schools have. We also had early intervention therapy through a state funded program and I personally felt the quality was not as good as what we are getting in private therapy. Also, state funded and school therapy will likely involve IEP's, meetings etc. It seemed to really label the kid and focus only on what they could not do. I like the positiveness of private therapy. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense but it's just my personal experience.

I just wanted to say that DS gets an hour a week of ST through school. An IEP is an INDIVIDUAL education plan and any school that always provides only 30 minutes or any other set amount of time regardless of a child's needs is violating federal law. Additionally, speech therapy in a school setting can offer the advantage of other children to participate. That has been especially helpful in having DS cooperate and find therapy fun. He actually saw his ST the other day when it was not time for speech and asked her, "B, I love you. Can we have speech now?"

It is true that an IEP is a necessary part of the process and some people prefer to avoid that process and to avoid labels, but there are advantages to the system as well. (For example, I initially thought DS had just speech issues, but it turns out his issues were broader and an EI evaluation found many of them. His IEP now addresses his broader issues as well as providing ST.) I am sure that there are many circumstances where private is better, but I do not think this is univerally true.

Catherine

[mainemommy1]

I also forgot to mention that in the schools or state funded program it is sometimes difficult to get services through the summer. In private therapy we receive services through all school vacations and the summer and it is a non-issue. When we were with the state it was a battle and my child clearly shows significant regression when sessions are missed. Just another factor to consider.

What we did was go the state funded route and then when it wasn't working out for us we switched to private and pay our co=pays