Speech and Language Therapy 3 Years Old Son.

Depends on the problem...my son had therspy through the school didtrict we went once a week for 30 minutes. He had problems making the k and g sound (articulation) he had about 8 sessions. Then he was done. They play games and read books. It is fun for the kids.

My daughter has been doing speech therapy for about a year and a half now. (She will be 4 in April.)

I have seen a HUGE improvement! She did one hour a week at the therapist's office, and one hour a week when the Early Intervention lady would come to the house and help me learn to work with her at home.

Once she turned 3, she had to go through the school district and is there for 30 minutes, twice a week in a small class with other kids. (Right now there is only one other kid in her "class.") she loves it, and I am continuing to see improvement. She went from being significantly delayed in all areas of speech, to being caught up in all but one (the only thing she needs help with any more is enunciation.)

I really recommend going for it. :)

My son began speech when he was 2 1/2. When he was 3 he was able to receive services at our elementary school.

He started off doing 30 minutes every other week. Once he started at the elementary school, he did 30 minutes every week.

For us the progress was very slow at first. He was really trying, but it just was slow going. Things really started to pick up when he was 3 1/2. I think it was a combination of things, but I know for sure that he and his new speech teacher really clicked. She changed schools (sniff, sniff), but he is still doing great!

It does depend on why he's been recommended for services. But the relationship with the speech teacher is very important. My son did fine with his first two speech teachers, but there was something really special about that third one. When she left he started working with one of the previous teachers, and they are doing great! Maybe the one we loved just really helped him over a hump?

Good relationships are priceless!

You are the most important factor in how long it will take to see progress.

If you leave it all up to the therapist, who is only there an hour or two a week, then it may take a long time.

If you go to the appointments and learn techniques on what to do and really implement everything the therapist does every single day, you may see progress pretty quickly. You need to be willing to put all your effort into this and ask lots of questions about how you can implement the speech therapy as part of your everyday routine.

Two of my three kids had speech therapy. One was weekly for 18 months (from 2.5 years until 4 years old). The other was every other week for about 15 months (from 18 months until just before he turned 3).

They are now 8 & 3 (almost 4) and you would never know they were ever speech delayed.

Good for you for getting help!!!

Myewnickname is right on the money with her advice. You MUST do a home program with your child every single day. You should do it in the morning and at night. If you slack off, you are telling your child that his speech lessons are not important, AND he will not progress much.

The progress you want depends on your work at home as well as his diagnosis. Also, you need to understand the GOALS his therapist has for him every 3 months. You cannot expect him to do what a 5 year old is expected to do. So you need to understand what your expectations should be. His therapist can help you with that.

My daughter started speech therapy when she was 2.5 and once she was three was able to be in the school system. That was awsome! She went to 'special day class' 5 days a week for 4 hours a day. We saw results within the first month. Her words were much slower to come but her behavior improved dramatically because she learned other means to communicate what she wanted/needed. She's 4.5 now and has just graduated out of the program and I now 'age appropriate.'
It is very important to 'work' on speech at home and wherever you go. But for me and my family it was retraining ourselves how to communicate intentionally at all times. Every moment is a learning opportunity and its best if you become very aware of that. It took 2 years for our child to be age appropriate. Each child in my daughters program has a different prognosis and plan. That's what your IEP is for. It was always the goal that my daughter would be able to graduate out of the program. But honestly most of the kids in the program that were with her, have other conditions like Autism or other diagnosis that will require continued services. Which is just fine too. The people in the program and other parents became very near and dear to us. :) They're all seriously the sweetest little kids!

Mine did speech therapy at 25 months and did it for 7 months. the first day, he learned 3 new words. and then a new word or phrase. it depends on how the eval is and the receptive/expressive skills are at. some do an hour (2 30 mins) or just 30 mins.. or every day.. my son did 30 mins a week..

My little one has been doing it for about 15 months, both from the school district, through early intervention, and private as well. He is 2 years 10 months right now, and we have about 15 words we can understand. But, he is also autistic so that impacts how we do. Honestly, the speech therapy helped to put in the foundation and keeps the work going, but the changes we have seen have really been since November when he started a Qigong (She-gong) Massage through a trial here. They have a website where you can get information www.qsti.org. If you buy the book, it comes with a DVD and poster to show you exactly what to do. Really, its a program that you do at home, I do it every night for him. It takes about 15 minutes or so. The theory is that the energy gets stuck in the body, but the language center in the brain connects directly to the pointer fingers and a specific toe, but I don't remember which one. When the energy gets to the fingers and toes, it will let the language center in the brain work. The results have been amazing for us and all the other families I have talked to. I know the study has only been done on Autism, but the theory is sound for ALL people, and I know when it was done to me, I felt much better and more grounded.

I hope all of this helps and its not too much. But, like everyone else said, the progress your son makes depends directly on the work you do at home.