Speech Therapy and Almost 8 Year Old

I think my daughter had speech therapy from kindergarten until 4th grade. She never had therapy homework and no one seemed to think she wasn't progressing.

We're in a similar situation. Our son was evaluated in Kindergarter, but it was ultimately decided his issues were "age appropriate". Then in first we pushed for the testing and he started in January as well. He struggles with two sounds and we also have no IEP. Unlike you though, I get lots of feedback from his speech teacher and we do get homework and things to do at home. There is improvement, but it is slow going. Slower than I expected. I was told by our speech teacher, that most likely, since his is not severe, it will be slow going and then suddenly, he will "get it". So we just keep sticking with it. I was also told that I should expect him to be exited from speech by the end of third grade...so to me, we at least have a goal time set.

If I were you, before spending the money and time, I'd have a conference with the speech teacher. Find out what the expectations should be. Find out why work isn't coming home. And ask for strategies to help in the home. Then you can evaluate your next step.

My 4 year old son has been in speech since he was about 2 1/2. At first we went to a private speech pathologist (our insurance did cover it). When he turned 3 he was evaluated at the local school. He has been receiving services there ever since and has an IEP. He is in PreK and goes to speech twice a week. He never has homework, but we do get feedback from his speech teacher twice a year, including his annual IEP meeting.

My older son is in first grade and is now 7. When he was in PreK he did some speech. He had trouble with the "th" and "zh" sounds. He did not have an IEP but was just pulled out occasionally to work on those sounds. We are very fortunate that our school can do this. My SIL is a speech pathologist at another school and wishes she had time to pull kids out like that. She said she has her hands full just working with the kids who have IEP's. There are some kids she can pull out but not too many.

It might be time to schedule a meeting with the speech teacher. Talk about what your concerns are and ask for a formal evaluation. A formal evaluation will identify and concerns, but even with a formal evaluation it's possible he still won't qualify. If he scores too high, the school might not be required by law to provide services. If this is the case, talk to the speech teacher about areas where he is struggling, what you can do to help (because each sound has exercises you can do with him that might help), etc. There really are some speech errors that are age appropriate. Some sounds are harder to master than others.

If you still can't get anywhere with the school, call your pediatrician. That's actually where we started. Our pediatrician referred our son to a speech pathologist who evaluated him and got him started. We were fortunate that our insurance covered the sessions. Not all insurance plans will cover speech, and even those that do will very often not cover kids older than 3. It might be a good idea to call your insurance company to find out what they will cover.

I would make 2 suggestions.........speak with the speech teacher, his regular teacher, and the resource person at the school. Maybe get an SST instead of an IEP, although you CAN have an IEP just to address the speech issue. Call your local regional center and ask for an evaluation (it's free) and just be proactive.

Sorry for the late reply. If your son is receiving services for speech or educational assistance, he should have an IEP. You should insist on it and the school (whether private or public) should accommodate you. They receive extra funding for kids with IEPs so there is no reason for him not to have one. The benefit for you (and apologies if some of this is redundant) and your son is that it specifically lists out what the goals for him are, what they intend to do to help him reach those goals, the amount of time to be spent with him, whether it will be in class, pull out, one-on-one or group sessions, etc. They are reviewed annually and updated every 3 years unless you want them reviewed sooner. They include the principal, the regular teacher, the resource teacher, the parent and usually a counselor. My son has an IEP for speech and education and I always brought an advocate with me (SO, friend, legal representative, doesn't really matter) so I have someone to help me look at what was there and help me ask questions if I didn't know what to ask. I would tell you to definitely get an IEP to set clear goals and plans. The resource or speech teacher also does tests and other things to chart his progress so you will be able to see if it's just a point or two that he is making consistent progress. And if you aren't satisfied with the teacher, you can request someone else.
(One other side note, if your son has any medical issues or needs, you may want to also get a 504 plan in place. It's similar to an IEP, but for medical reasons. I have a son who has one for migraines and seizures and another who does for environmental and food allergies.)
If you want to know what your rights are, you can contact the state department of education or the US Department of Education (on the west coast, the office is located in Washington state). They have pamphlets and information that they can send to you at no charge that are extremely helpful and informative.
Good luck and good mom for being proactive in making sure your son's needs are met!

Before you add additional services I suggest you need to have a better understanding of the services he's receiving now. Make an appointment with his current therapist and learn what is happening. Be proactive. Don't wait for her/him to come to you. Ask the therapist if your son would benefit from extra attention. Once you know and understand the focus of his therapist you will know better what the next step is.

My son had some developmental delays in speech for particular letter combinations. We started speech therapy when he was three from first a private agency that was ridiculously expensive and our insurance didn't cover it, then we heard about Early Intervention and that was free and very good. And then in school. It sounds like the therapist at that school may not be working but I'm not sure. If I were you I'd continue that and try a private place especially if your insurance covers it. Why not? Also, you are not overreacting. He would've grown out of it by now but he hasn't.

Yes, get a private evaluation and private speech. You should have a home program that you work with him on. It's important. The therapist will help you do that.

There SHOULD be an IEP for your child to have speech services in school. I don't understand why he doesn't.

Kids that are not disabled don't have IEP's so your son would not qualify for that. He might qualify for a 504 plan IF he's not able to function in the classroom due to issues. If he's just having a speech problem I don't think he'd qualify for any sort of program.

Since you noticed this problem before kindergarten and there's no change it could be a couple of things. Either the therapist is not making progress with him and he needs to see someone else OR he has a disability that may need a more professional assessment and treatment.

I'd definitely talk to the pediatrician about this. Our kids do hearing tests and other developmental tests when they do their yearly physical. If the doc has not seen any issues then your child may be physically okay. I do think that often kids have hearing issues and then they have problems with certain sounds.

I'd have him evaluated by professionals so that he can get an actual diagnosis to see if he does qualify for additional programs.