Hi All,
My youngest son is almost 5 but missed the cut-off for K this year, so he will not be starting school til next year. I feel he might need to be evaluated for speech therapy, he is very hard to understand and doesn't really say any hard sounds, the T, the S etc.
I think I have read on here that the school district in your area usually offers a free evaluation but I am not sure if this is correct, how old he has to be, or what happens after that?
My youngest SS had to have speech for 6 years and my youngest son sounds a lot like him (like he is from Boston) and I was hoping to try and get this started as early as I can...just don't know where to start? I went into our local Elementary school (where his brother goes) and they had no clue and looked at me like I was crazy? I called the school district and they also didn't know, said it seemed obvious that they should know but didn't and transferred me to the Special Education department that was only an answering machine...left a message, hope they call me back.
He is in his 2nd year of preschool, this year he is in Jr. Kindergarten.
Any advice welcomed and appreciated.
Thank You!
Thank you all. The speech therapist at the school called me and we scheduled an appointment, it was very easy and quick...he does need speech therapy! All new territory for me, never been here before...
Try this.
http://www.spokaneschools.org/1742201215153611840/lib/174...
It's a link to Spokane schools ChildFind program.
Good Luck!
Check with the elementary school that your son will be attending for Kinder to see if the school district provides speech therapy. In Texas, this is part of the school district's policy. My son has been in speech thrapy in our local elementary since he was 3 years old. Only I and our daughter had to translate what he was saying for EVRYONE, my husband couldn't. Our son is now in 2nd grade and can be understood about 90% of the time. He has a motor skill issue where he knows the word, it's definition and how to describe it to people, but when he tries to SAY the word it comes out all jumbled up until he learns how the mouth needs to be shaped to pronounce it. His reading was delayed because he couldn't pronounce what he was reading (another issue for another time). I have posted about how we went about it for other people, so you can look in my "Answer List" to get more exact suggestions.
Good Luck!
I don't know but I would just go to the school where he will be going and ask to speak to the speach therapist. She will have all the resources you need and could tell you where to go to get an evaluation and may even listen to him informally to see if it seems like something you should be worried about or something that might just be developmental.
he can start speech even before he is in school. I think you just need to contact the school and then they will direct you to the right person to talk to. My sister's son is very hard to understand...he is only 4 and not yet in school but he just got evaluated last week and he is starting speech therapy right away. So make a call. They say it's better to get them started now so by the time they do go to school their speech is much better.
Most places will offer evaluations for children 30 months and up. I would call your local school district office or even just your local elementary school and ask about evaluations available. Good luck!
My oldest is in speech therapy at The Gerry Frank Center for Children’s Care at Providence St. Vincent and we love it if you can go to your childs doctor maybe they can send you to somthing like that..
I live in Oregon, but my oldest (4 1/2) had a cleft palate and received speech therapy (free) through Early Intervention from 18 months to 3 years. At that time they said he wasn't delayed enough to qualify, and it took me a while to find a private speech therapist, but we found one that works through the local hospital here. It is very expensive if you have to pay (about $200/hr) so check with your insurance to see what they cover first. It has made a huge difference for my son, and I would highly recommend it. Good luck!
my son started getting speech services at 2. we have early intervention services, its under the county, not the school district, until he turned 3. it has helped him tremendously. we just switched over to pre-k, which the school district will now pay for rather than the county. your pediatrician should have the number of who to call for an evaluation.
Sounds like you already have good answers. If you think he needs it, get him evaluated. Yes, the public schools often offer a program even for kids 3 and up. Our school district does their evaluations at the beginning of the year...so now is probably a good time.
Even when he starts regular school he should still be able to get speech therapy at school. It shouldn't end with early intervention, but you will have to request an evaluation in writing to the school when school begins. Early intervention doesn't automatically transfer over. It should. Do it the first day, the wheels turn slowly there.
Does your state offer any kind of pre-k program? I would check into that because it is really helpful in getting them ready for kindergarten.
I've never heard of school districts offering evals but everywhere is different. You could always check there first but usually school district assistance is usually reserved for very low-income families. Like here in Florida, VPK in the regular school system is reserved for low-income families and everyone else has to go to either private schools or daycares for the VPK.
You can also check to see if your insurance covers speech services if the school thing doesn't pan out. At age 5, his speech should be relatively clear.
