Daycare/Preschool/Speech Therapy

You actually need to call the local elementary school district. Preschoolers can be screened and receive services if needed for free.

I was in the same situation with my son. You have to contact your local school district and request in writing that you want your son to be evaluated for speech & language delay. From there, your son will get testing from a speech therapist in your school district and if he does indeed have delays then he will begin speech therapy. If your son's speech delay requires a special prek program, then the school district will put him in it. The special prek is through the public school and is taught by teachers with special ed. training to help speech delayed students. My son went through the same process. He qualified for the special prek and had fabulous teachers that really did wonders to help improve his speech. FYI, the prek programs through the school district have a mixture of students with varying speech issues. there maybe students with autism sometimes in the class, but they divide the classes up by mild, moderate, severe. If your son only has speech issues, then he will be placed in a mild class. I found the program to be extremely beneficial. Now that my son's in school (1st grade) he still receives speech therapy but he's in a reg. ed class. It can be a long process to get the ball going, so I would put in a request immediately! The sooner your son can get help, the better. Best wishes.

I'd say to get in touch w/your local district. Some districts do offer preschools while other don't. But since you already know he has a speech delay, I assume you've had him diagnosed & have an IEP going? Does he receive speech therapy thru your local district? OUr 6.5 yr od was diagnosed w/a speech delay at 2. He had therapy at home & at 3 we had him re-assessed thru our school district & got an IEP. He had speech thru the district program until he started K this past Fall. We never sent him to a district preschool bit instead sent him to the same preschool we sent his older brother. He did just great. I alerted the teachers to his delay, gave them a list of his words & word approximations, included them in his IEP's & gave them copies. It was more about him being around other kids who were talking that caused him to progress immensely. His speech grew leaps & bounds. Now, people are surprised when I say he has a speech dela! He now only has problems w/articulations of blended consonants & recieves speech 2x/wk at school. So, if you can't find something thru your district, look around at smaller preschools. Good luck!

The other posts are right. Contact your local elementary school and ask for an evaluation. They staff speech pathologists and will make recommendations and track his progress throughout his school career. The Special Ed department of the School District will know exactly which preschool to send your son to best help his particular needs.

I've been through this experience, and I was really confused when I was told I needed to contact the school district. I didn't understand because my son was 3 and wasn't starting kindergarten anyway, and he didn't even attend preschool. But yes, contact the school district office, and they should be able to set up a speech evaluation to see if your son qualifies for speech therapy through the district. If he does qualify that means the speech therapy is funded through the public school system...you won't pay anything.

Check with your local School Distric, our district actually has a preschool for children with speech issues. Your child will go through series of evaluations & tests and they will let you know what the best placement is for him.

I believe that your doctor was talking about the Public School District services. You don't have to go to the public preschool (if they even offer it), but you can still receive service through them if you qualify. Regional Center only provides services up to 3 years old. I would contact your school district.

It's not the preschool that does the speech therapy, it's your public elementary school. It is the one service that can be accessed before entrance into kindergarten. Contact your school district or the elementary school for your neighborhood to get more information and direction about how to enroll y our child in these services. Speech therapy will help a lot and will help your child be on target for entering kindergarten so he won't fall behind due to speech delay. Kudos to your pediatrician for getting the ball rolling on this. Please do enroll your child in preschool too so that he gets peer interaction and has the opportunity to practice what he learns in speech therapy. Adults have the tendancy to know what the child wants so he doesn't have to try and communicate as hard. He has to do all the communication himself with other kids. Preschool is important in general for being prepared for kndergarten as well. My son started kindergarten this year after having had preschool and there is world of difference between him and the kids who never went to preschool. In fact, since the class has to cater to the kids who know less, kindergarten is very easy for him. He does have peer interaction social skills to work on though(they always do when they are young!), so kindergarten is also valuable in that way as well.

You don't go through the preschool. You have to go through the elementary school that he would be going to when he starts kindergarten. Just call them up and they will schedule an evaluation/IEP. Also, if you son goes to a state preschool or headstart preschool that is on an elementary school campus he can recieve his speech therapy while he's at preschool. Otherwise you have to take him on your own when the speech therapist has an available time to see preschoolers.

Correct me if I am wrong: Preschools are nonpublic schools that do not customarily offer speech therapy programs. I think the school system the doc is referring to is the Public school system that begins with Kindergarten...

You should check on some private speech therapy centers locally, or ask your school district for recommendation.
For preschool age, you may contact your Regional Center that supports individual with Developmental Disability... but it may not apply to you!