My son just turned three and i believe he is speech delayed. At home he talks but but not in full sentences and alot of things that he says are not understood. At school he does not say a word but will do his work as normal and does not respond to teachers comments. The dr. claims it is because he goes to a new school and he might just be intimidated about being in a new place and should go away within a couple of weeks and he doesnt reccommend speech therapy for him. I do work with him at home and have been working on the letters that he does not pronounce correctly. Does anyone think that this alone would work or should I keep stressing speech therapy to the dr. until he gives in? Has anyone had this issue before?
I say speech therapy. He needs to learn say his letters right. or it will make him selfcontious and keep him talking less. the school district does havea speech therapist on staff. Ask to talk to her
girl, get that speech eval. he's not in DIRE need or anything, no need to freak, but my son will be 3 in december & he'll be finishing up speech therapy at that time. 3 months ago he was barely saying anything; he's talks pretty darn good now - about 75% clarity. (i'm very proud of him of course!. but the sooner the better for your boy b/c pre-k & such is just around the corner plus it'll just be great to communicate w/him better. also, you wanna weed out if there's any other probs, medically speaking. good luck to you & your little guy. :)
Get him evaluated. I'm surprised that your doctor would be so blase about it...not that you should be freaking out by any means, but to me it sounds like there might be a delay. You shouldn't need a doctor referral so contact the state, or actually probably your school district. Since he's 3 he will probably qualify for aid through your school district and it will probably be for free. I'm not totally sure about FL rules, but here in KS that's how it is. My son is in speech therapy as well and gets free state assistance. My therapist thinks he'll be done with it by age 3 but said if he isn't we'll have to transfer into the district for services. Even if you find a private person your insurance may cover it, you'll have to look into it. Likely if he has a delay, it's just that, a delay and not some sort of disorder, but even so it's better to get some skills for you and him so he'll be talking sooner. Good luck!
I am a speech therapist but work only with adults. I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 22 month old. if I were you I would get an evaluation. He may need therapy or just be on the low end of normal. the therapist that does the evaluation will also educate you on the best way to help him. In california you can get a free evaluation from the school district. Not sure about your state. Good luck
I would trust your own instincts and have him evaluated. You do not need your doctor to agree or to refer you to a speech therapist for that matter. You can follow through with this on your own.
Does your school district offer any type of evaluations? Our district has a program called "Child Find." It is completely free and covers multiple areas. I just had my daughter (also 3) evaluated and I was quite impressed with the program. We were having her evaluated for speech therapy but the entire assessment is much more thorough. She met with a psychologist, speech therapist, occupational therapist and a nurse. Our experience was very positive and my daughter did indeed need speech therapy. Because this program is run by the school district they will pay for her to "receive services" for free --for us this means they would pay for her preschool (100%) so she could see a speech therapist in the classroom. Pretty cool. Also, the program is not income based... It is for anyone in the school district.
Of course, having said all that, we ultimately chose to seek out a private speech therapist.... But that's another story. What I really wanted you to know is that you don't need to wait around for your pediatritian to jump on this..... Call your school district and see if they have a similar program ... Or maybe just pay to have him assessed. It is worth at least meeting with a speech therapist for sure - the one we met with at the evaluation gave us a stack of handouts and very specific suggestions on how to best work on our daughter's specific speech issues.
Anyway, best of luck! You sound like you are really conscientious!
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I would trust your own instincts and have him evaluated. You do not need your doctor to agree or to refer you to a speech therapist for that matter. You can follow through with this on your own.
Does your school district offer any type of evaluations? Our district has a program called "Child Find." It is completely free and covers multiple areas. I just had my daughter (also 3) evaluated and I was quite impressed with the program. We were having her evaluated for speech therapy but the entire assessment is much more thorough. She met with a psychologist, speech therapist, occupational therapist and a nurse. Our experience was very positive and my daughter did indeed need speech therapy. Because this program is run by the school district they will pay for her to "receive services" for free --for us this means they would pay for her preschool (100%) so she could see a speech therapist in the classroom. Pretty cool. Also, the program is not income based... It is for anyone in the school district.
Of course, having said all that, we ultimately chose to seek out a private speech therapist.... But that's another story. What I really wanted you to know is that you don't need to wait around for your pediatritian to jump on this..... Call your school district and see if they have a similar program ... Or maybe just pay to have him assessed. It is worth at least meeting with a speech therapist for sure - the one we met with at the evaluation gave us a stack of handouts and very specific suggestions on how to best work on our daughter's specific speech issues.
Anyway, best of luck! You sound like you are really conscientious!
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Since he is 3 now you don't have to go through the doctor to get your son evaluated. Go to the public school and they will evaluate him.
He needs a professional SLP. I wouldn't worry about sound errors as much as language aquisition. The whole body and central nervous system are involved when there is a speech delay/disorder so you will want to look into a home program of Masgutova Method to integrate retained reflexes. Children learn through their bodies, not by teaching them things. Come to one of our south FL support groups and learn...
