Preschool and Speech Development Delay

Hi, I have a 4 yr old who has the same problem- due to a cleft palate. The school district in your area is required by law, to provide preschool and speech therapy to him. I would contact your local school district and tell them that you are requesting a special ed/ speech therapy evaluation for your son. Preschool has helped my sooooo much! It gives her the chance to talk to other kids and interact with them, rather that just their immediate family. I even need to get my almost 2 yr old screened because of this reason (they do not have much interaction outside the home with other kids). You need to ask to get your child into an IEP- very important that you do so. The school district will not charge you for any of their services either. Without the interaction and socialization, your child could have other problems- we are learning that the hard way. I would NOT think twice about putting your child in preschool- you NEED to do it for his development.

I hope this helps

Hello C., I just wanted to let you know that I am a speech therapist in the area. Just a quick thought-- it really would be a great benefit for your child to be in a preschool program to have more exposure to other children his age. Kids are the best models because they understand each other in every way. I do not know of any preschool programs in your area off the top of my head, but just so you know that if needed, your school district is required by law to provide services for you son free of charge (the key is he needs to qualify). They could then offer him a preschool placement within your district and they would then provide the services there while he was at school. Or therapy could also be completed in your home if you picked a private therapy company. If you have any questions or need any further help, please feel free to ask !!! Hope everything works!!!
S.

Hi C. my name is S. and I'm going threw the same problem with my son who is almost 5!Me and my fiance didn't agree on this either until we took him to a screening at a early childhood school and they told us he was untestable and needed special ed. Of course to hear those two words together is devasting to any parent but what I'm learning is that him going to preschool is not only gonna help his speech problem but help any other area he's behind in. So reasure your husband that the teachers at the preschool are more equipted to help yours son's speech delay than keeping him at home trying to work with it,thats how my problems began with my son was by us keeping him home. So I hope that i've had some good advice for you to help ease your worries.

Hi C.,

My 2-year-old also has a slight speech delay. Our speech therapist thinks it will be great for him to enroll in preschool because hearing the other children on a regular basis will also help improve his speech.

Maybe when you get a therapist, you can get his/her opinion on what's best for your son.

Good luck!!! :)

M.

If you enroll him in ECDEC through the school district he will get therapy at the school. My 3 year old was getting speech and language through Early Intervention at the daycare but once they turn three then they have to be in Early Childhood and that is arranged through the school district. Personally I think preschool is a very good idea for children with special needs. The socialization is well worth it if nothing else but they also hear other children speak on a daily basis which helps them out. My 3 year old has been talking better since he's been enrolled in ECDEC.

If it is a speech delay be very careful of therapy as it can make the situation worse. My son also was speech delayed, he didn't really start talking until around 3 1/2 and when I talked to the speech therapist at his preschool, she said sometimes starting too early can be a hinderence at such a young age. There are certain ages when children should be able to develope certain letter sounds and trying to get them to do this to early can make their speech worse. Preschool can be very helpful, especially when they are able to talk with children their own age and the school is also able to asses problems with speech and development. I would suggest talking with the school you intend to send him to and they may be able to help. Also if he is in school you are able to find out about state help that doesn't cost anything to you and your family.

My son is in school District 54 and in pre -school there right now.He has no speech problem. But the school Dist.has spechial classes designed for children, with problems, to get them ready for Kindergarten.They have speech therapists,
psychologists,sochial workers, etc.Great school,maybe your school has something similar to that.I would call your school dist.

Hi C.,

I'm a school psych in Wheaton at a public school. Jefferson Preschool is an awesome resource for students who need some early interventions. They have a wide span of children with and without needs, and have great speech paths, OTs, and special ed teachers. We have many students from Jefferson come to our school who are basically 'fixed.' Your son is the right age to start looking into Jefferson (entry starts at age 3). School is in session 4 days a week for half a day.

Hope this helps1

not sure where you live, but Plainfield Bonnie Mc Beth Preshool offers all those type of services- speech etc. I hear they are awesome. It is more of a "big kid" school setting if you are looking for that. They have bigger class sizes with teacher aides. I always hear good things about this school.

First off, you should definitely send your son to preschool. Preschool is all part of his education. If he gets to kindergarten without any preschool, he will be soooooooo behind (academically as well as socially). Also, check your local school district in Wheaton. He might be eligible for speech therapy through your school district. (during preschool he gets 1/2 hr of speech therapy). At no cost to you. Also check with your insurance to see what kind of coverage you have, but you could also go through your local college (speech/pathology dept.) and get a cheaper speech evualation. But preschool is a must in every child's education today. It helps with social skills, learning to follow teacher's commands, fine motor skills (cutting, drawing, etc.), making friends (and other social skills -playing in groups, sharing toys/supplies, etc.), and some preschools have a strong academic base (start learning letters, etc. - all done in a fun way!) Hope this helps! Good luck!

All school districts are required by law to provide services like speech therapy, PT, OT starting at age 3. You should contact the "early childhood" office of your school district and find out what their evaluation process is. If your child has a delay that is significant enough to qualify for services then the school district must provide them, in your case, speech therapy. We live in 203 and my daughter got speech therapy via a special pre-school program. It was an excellent program. She started on her 3rd birthday, which was at the end of September so she only missed the 1st week of school. THere were some kids getting therapies and some who were not in her classroom. The speech was integrated into the classroom setting. I would highly recommend investigating a program like this.

However, if you don't qualify for services or the programs offered don't seem appealing, I would still recommend preschool. I think it will help. It will expose him to new and different voices and get him talking with more people.

Good luck!

I live in Addison and my district offers free Preschool Enrichment program thru the public school to children 3-4 that qualify for being behind in anything, the child will meet with the speech therapist at school. My daughter 4 is in this program and she loves going to school each day.

Hello C.,
I would check the Naperville/Wheaton School district, some districts have these programs in place for children even entering into pre-school.
hope this helps!!
W.

Hi C. -
My son Roland had help with his speech delay from early intervention program which is state sponsored. But this is for kids younger than 3. They helped us transition our son into the early childhood program in our school district in Lisle. You can contact your school district to find out about having your son evaluated. Our town is open to evaluations all year round. Other towns have specific dates that this is done. Push for the service...your taxes are paying for it!!
Roland is in our school district's preschool every day from 1230-3p.
Good luck!
S. in Lisle

I do not know of preschools in the Wheaton area that offer speech services but as a speech therapist I can tell you that putting him in any type of preschool will be beneficial! I am a school based SLP and when students come in to kindergarten without preschool experience they are often very overwhelmed and behind the other students academically. Having your child around peer models will help improve his speech-language skills and the structure of the classroom will get him ready for kindergarten. Good luck!

Hello, I thought I could help you. My son is also speech impared as I call it. He is now 6 and still has speech problems. At the age of 2 he went to AID. When he was 3 he started going through the school dist. They did a screening on him and was excepted into a preschool setting that helped him with his speech as well. He stayed in this class until he started kindergarten. He still gets speech therepy as of this day in school and he is in 1st grade. So call your school dist and have him screened. Why pay for a preschool when you can have it thru your school dist. You already pay taxes. Good Luck