Speech Therapy for 5 Year Old

Updated on August 14, 2008
K.R. asks from Plano, TX
17 answers

Hi mamas!

My five year old son has trouble with tongue thrusting on certain letters. I have talked with my sister-in-law, who has her master's degree in speech pathology, and she agrees that some speech therapy would be beneficial to him. I am wondering if anyone has experience with the programs at Univ of Texas at Dallas, Texas Woman's University or Univ of North Texas. If you have any recommendations for private speech therapy, those would be welcome too. We live in Plano just south of Frisco.

Thanks!

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T.W.

answers from McAllen on

I got my degree from the University of North Texas, we're better than the Callier Center. (haha, I'm biased) Seriously, they do have a great program, the students and faculty are there to help. I would try UNT.

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S.F.

answers from Dallas on

I would recommend you call your local school and see what services they offer for free & then if you don't feel it is enough explore private speech. My 4 year old was in our local schools speech program (PALS in McKinney ISD) the last 6 months of last year and made a ton of progress. She will be in it again this year.

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L.S.

answers from Dallas on

Most local school districts provide services for those living in their district. My son, at 3, attended speech therapy at the local elementary school. It was 2 hours, 5 days a week. The results were amazing. And there is no cost to you.

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C.B.

answers from Dallas on

University of North Texas has an excellent Speech and Hearing department, which has a clinic. My son participates in a reading tutoring program there, and I have talked to many moms in the waiting room. There are many children there getting therapy for the same types of issues you describe, and I have also seen some autistic children and children with other disabilites go there for therapy. Although it is a long drive for you, I think it's a great program and service to the community. I've also seen adults with hearing problems go in there as well.

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T.J.

answers from Dallas on

I have had two of my kids go through speech therapy through the school system and private therapy. Our current therapist is so wonderful, the best by a longshot. She used to work in the school system but now does it privately. My 3 year old son loves her and better yet, he responds to her. She just has a way of relating to the kids and figuring out how to approach each type of personality. If my son gets impatient towards the end of the session she will follow his lead into whatever he has gravitated to and incorporates therapy into that situation. She is truly remarkable. She comes to my house in The Colony once a week and I know she works in the Plano/Frisco/McKinney areas as well. Her name is Jennifer Gillom and her phone number is ###-###-####.
Good luck!

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J.G.

answers from Dallas on

I am a speech therapist in Frisco serving children 0-3 years in Ready Start ECI. I have spoken to and know the therapists at Speech and Language Therapy Office off od Parkwood and Warren in Frisco and know they ahve a tongue thrust specialist on staff. Their number is ###-###-####. Tell them that J. MAngo referred you!

thanks and good luck!

J.

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M.M.

answers from Dallas on

Have you spoken to your local elementary school? Do that too even if he isn't enrolled yet.

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

I agree that UTD Callier is great. The main location is downtown, but I believe they are now also providing services at the UTD Campus in Richardson off of George Bush.

You might also look into Our Children's House at Baylor in Frisco. They offer Speech there and they are located at the corner of Stonebrook and Preston in the Kohl's Shopping Center.

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M.R.

answers from Dallas on

My 4 year old has tongue thrust. She has attend UNT for the last year and we have seen great progress. However, that is pretty far for you. My son is deaf and he attended Callier in Dallas. They have a wonderful program.

As far as the tongue thrust - As soon as your son becomes aware of what he needs to do to make the right sounds he will start doing that. Hopefully you won't have to do speech long. As our daugther has gotten older we have been able to remind her to close her teeth when she says L or S and where to put her tongue.

Good luck.

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K.C.

answers from Dallas on

Also check with your school. They have preschool speech programs already paid with your tax dollars! My 10yo went through this program from 3 until kinder, and then she shifted to pull-out speech therapy for a couple more years. It was a good program.

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J.W.

answers from Dallas on

My son got speech therapy from the school district (Farmer Branch-Carrollton) before he started Kindergarten. I was very pleased, and his problem was cleared up by the time he started school. This was free, so you might want to check what is available in your district before going the private route.

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R.

answers from Dallas on

We use a homehealth provider and absolutely ADORE her. Her name is Melissa Helpurn and she works with Dynamic Therapy. www.dynamictherapy.net. She can come to your home or you can go to hers. She lives near hedgecoxe and Robinson. She's fabulous!

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K.B.

answers from Dallas on

My son had severe speech issues. We utilized both PISD (during the school year) and the Callier Center in Richardson (during the summer). He's great now. I attribute his success to both programs. Plano has a few different programs through the school system for kids with speech issues. My son started in the communication class at Beaty Early Learning Center. It's basically a standard preschool class with a speech pathologist as the teacher. Once he mastered certain skills, he moved from that class to twice a week, one-on-one therapy. Once he started kindergaten, he continued the one-on-one therapy. All of this is paid for with your tax dollars, so I'd suggest taking advantage of the programs. The Callier Center offers similar programs, which were also very effective. You'll want to check with your insurance provider to see if they pay for speech therapy if that is a concern (many insurance companies do not cover speech).

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J.S.

answers from Dallas on

Hi Kimberley,

My 4 year son has been going to Our Children's House in Frisco for Speech Therapy and they are fabulous! I can not say enough good things about them. Their number is ###-###-####. They are part of the Baylor system and are located at Preston/Rolater near the Kohl's.

I am so glad we took him there.

Best,
J.

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M.B.

answers from Dallas on

Contact your local elementary school. The services are FREE and the results are just as good and paid services, if not better because they are geared toward preparing your child for school. I am a Diagnostician, so I work very closely with the speech paths in my area. They do a great service, and they have the same training as private therapists!

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S.G.

answers from Dallas on

Hi K.,
We took our son to UTD Callier center for about a year and saw the most dramatic results. They are so incredible there. We had several different therapists - we were there for stuttering - and i can't recommend them highly enough to do them justice. It is well worth the $$! Plus I loved how kid friendly everything was - lots of therapy through simple games.
Let me know if you have any specific questions!
S.

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