speech therapy for 3yo

[jmmom]

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure whether this is the appropriate forum, but I am interested in finding out how I could perhaps get some speech therapy for my 3yo ds. I know that he is a little young, but he is quite difficult to understand (although his verbal skills are otherwise above average), he has a great deal of trouble communicating with anyone other than me, we have a history of speech difficulties on both sides of the family, and I would just love to tackle the problem sooner rather than later as he becomes increasingly social and would love to be able to interact with others in a deeper way. From what I understand, speech therapy is fun rather than stressful. Do any of you know how I go about looking into resources? We are planning to homeschool and are not doing preschool; we live in Emmitsburg, MD.

Thanks,
Angela

[earthmama369]

I don't know your area specifically, but we started with a Birth to Three evaluation (free, in your home), went to the local children's hospital for a more in-depth evaluation, and ended up actually finding our speech therapist through word of mouth and google. Some universities offer graduate studies programs in speech therapy and will provide relatively inexpensive speech therapy with a licensed therapist working hand-in-hand with a grad student. Prices I found ranged from $5-$160 an hour through a university, depending on if the primary contact was a grad student or a licensed therapist with a grad student acting as an observer.

We had really good luck going that route. They were very current on the latest research, had a lot of experience working with kids, they made it fun for ds (then 2), and we saw phenomenal progress in a fairly short amount of time. If I'd known about that option from the start, we would have just started with the university and saved a few months of delay.

[parker0907]

you could call your childs doctor and get a referrel. We just have to make a copay when we take our son to speech therapy. hope that helps

[dpeacey]

We used the Hanen Method (www.hanen.org) with DD. I got the book and the video and taught myself. The video was hugely useful -- I read the book and though, well, yeah, of course, but watching the video, I thought, oh, so I am not doing it right. You might look like an idiot at the grocery store saying "O-O-ran-ge, look, orange. its an orange. Orange", but hey, I am not parenting for the glamour of it.

Good luck. Be patient. I found it tooks months and months of nothing and then there was a "breakthrough" and she accumulated language like crazy after that.

[daytripper75]

We called our local school system and they got us an appointment with a district employed speech therapist. It is all free to us as taxpayers. However, I am not entirely certain that they assessed him properly and plan to take him to the University hospital for an assessment next week. Check with your insurance as some will pay the entire cost and others have co-pays or no coverage. I had to have a referral to get ds in at the University hospital which I generally don't need referrals for anything.
Good luck!

[Aridel]

Even if you don't send your child to preschool, you should be able to get therapy services through the school if he qualifies. Some people love their school therapists, others like to avoid any school involvement. It's a really personal decision. As PP have said, insurance is the other route that is very common.

[Fay]

I suggest getting an eval through your school district. Even if your child does not qualify for services, the evaluators can give you information and activities that you can do at home with your child. You can always refuse services if you are uncomfortable with the school situation...our experience with school speech therapists has been mixed. I strongly recommend the book "Play to Talk" by MacDonald -- his methods are all attachment-based and scientifically solid, and the book should be available at many libraries. I also recommend a hearing test, especially since he is difficult to understand.