Hello! My son who is three was recently diganosed with a sever speech delay! Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this? Insurance wont cover anything, so we have to go through the school district! Any advice would be great!

my son Trenton is now 4 is the Michigan ISD program for a speech delay. Long story, he was born deaf had ear tubes put in at 9 months and then could hear. (extreamly rare, but it worked out in out favor) He was 1 year behind in speech and the ISD has been a good thing for us. He is now caught up in speech but still continues to recieve speech therapy through the ISD in a pre K program. This year he will be in the PM class. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them for you, I'm in MI though, and each state is a little different. My son has been in the program since he was 1 1/2 for speech. They said he can go to a regular Kind. class next year since he has advanced so much and is now where he needs to be. I just need to tell the teacher though so he can still recieve his speech therapy, since speech problems with him can (and have) reoccured. it will be an ongoing thing for him but the ISD truelly has helped in our case.

Both of my boys, 4 and almost 6 have speech problems. My oldest starts kindergarten on Friday, and I worry about him being made fun of. They are both in speech thereapy, and my oldest is almost finished. He's been in therapy for a little more than two years, and my 4 year old about 1 year. They both leave/left off the beginning sounds of almost every word, and had problems saying sounds correctly. My younger has problems with vowels, but only if there are two together ex. "oi", and especially if there is an R after. My oldest didn't qualify for IEP for preschool thru the district, but my youngest has both years. The therapy they receive there isn't structured, and they don't get much at all...like 30 mins per month I think. There are programs out there that will help cover the costs of indv. speech therapy if insurance doesn't. Call the rehab unit of your local hospital or children's hospital, or a facility where they do speech therapy, and they may be able to guide you in the right direction. Also, if your income qualifies, Medicaid pays for it. Your son may qualiy for it if your income meets their limits. We are lucky, our insurance covers it, and its $160 per 1/2 hour. Honestly, the progress we've seen our oldest make in the last two years, being almost totally understandable and speaking clearly, with the exception of the "th" sound, I would have paid every week if I had to get a job just to do so! Good Luck, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask here or pm me! I feel like a speech pathologist as much as I do this, LOL.

jen, I agree with you, I know more about speech than I ever thought was possible. My son gets 20 minutes of therapy 2 days a week. The school he is in sounds way different then the one you mentioned. Now that he can get more assistance, because we qualify now, I'm thinking of jumping on it. Never can get too much help in this department.

My boys therapist is trying to get me to get a speech pathology degree after my youngest is in school full time. I really like staying home though, so I'm not sure. I still have a couple of years, so we'll see. My youngest gets one on one therapy once a week for 30 mins, my oldest just started doing every other week. My advice to anyone who has a child with a speech delay, is work at home as much as you can. My boys are very receptive in the car too. Also, try to pronounce your words correctly instead of saying shortened versions. I had a habit of saying yeah instead of yes...silly things like that, but we don't do that anymore! Sorry, I'll stop now. It's just a subject very near and dear to me! Good luck!

Thank you all so much for the inforamtion. I am a bit concerned that we have to go through the school district, because, the speech therapist said he needs intense therapy and one on one, at least two times a week! I know he'll be ok, but its hard when you worry about other children making fun of the fact that your child speaks differently! The joys of parenting!!

I am in the boat with you guys! My son was in birth 2 three from 2-3 then to the school system. Get involved! I discovered the teacher my son was assigned to was a very good teacher as long as I was present and involved. My son made dramatic changes from Dec. until the end of school. He did not have a speech problem so much as just a delay. He was 3 1/2 and only used momma and dadda on a regular basis--NO OTHER WORDS! The flustration level he and I had was unreal! He could not tell me what he wanted and I was instructed to ignore anything but language! It was rough but he is doing great now. Speech starts again on Wed. and we are looking foward to it now.

Take heart because of the many speech therapist, hearing specialist, doctors, and others in the know, have all told me that above average intelligence and speech delay go hand in hand. Einstein did not talk until he was 4.

NEW, I've been told the same thing about intelligence. My 5 year old has been adding, subtracting, and spelling for about a year! He is having trouble reading, and he REALLY tries hard, but when you cannot pronounce the sounds properly, it's hard to learn to read. He's getting much better as his speech has progressed. We will probably start working on reading again soon since his speech is almost finished. I also agree about being involved...if you don't fight for your child, no one will! My grandpa always said "The squeky wheel gets the oil"

My 5-year-old has been doing speech therapy for 2 years now. We also had to go through our school district. Luckily, though, for the these past two years he was able to have right at his daycare. The first year was not all the great. Did not care for the therapist and his case was dismissed in early May instead of at the end of the school year. He was "fine." We had another evaluation done in October of last year and he had completely regressed. We got a better therapist, and he is doing better. But, I do believe he is to continue this school year--he is starting kindergarten and it should be in school therapy--though we have received no notification yet.

My son had terrible ear infections as a baby, is on his second set of tubes and has had his tonsils and adnoids removed. The problem also was that he had a bink until he was 2 1/2 and I think that is what helped delay his speech as well. For all the tests that he has had done, he is at an average intelligence level for his age, but in some things (like puzzles and spacial issues) he was testing out at a 1st grade level when he was four. They said something about a future engineer.... I am worried for him starting school this year. He will be with all new kids and he is shy.

Good luck with your son. Be sure to kepp in close contact with the therapist and be sure to ask what you can work on at home.

that's funny, I was told the same thing. On my sons second birthday he counted to 31 and said the whole alphabet and could tell you which letter or # you skipped if wrote on a piece of paper.

We have also used the therapists (speech,occupational,and physical) through our local schools. We have had good progress. As Jen1977 said working on it at home, in the car... is very helpful. I would sit in on therapy and then do the excersises at home with our daughter.Good Luck
Jennifer

Both my son and youngest daughter have speech delays. My son was not diagnosed until he was 2 1/2 years old and I didn't know anything because I understood what he was saying. However, nobody else could. Anyway, he got intense thereapy by having a one on one therapist come to the house twice a week and got into a school (Exceptional Children's Foundation) and got speech once a day in group and twice a week in one on one. We were blessed! He is 9 today and still receives speech therapy, but he has since been diagnosed as having Asberger's Syndrome. He saounds delayed, but he gets his point across!

My daughter, she is 7 and she has 'baby' speech. We constantly have to remind her to pronounce certain letters and sounds. She started speech at three through our school district(we have a FANTASTIC special needs preschool!)

I used to fear my kids being teased about their speech delays, but to be honest with you, they have never been teased. But I will say this.... there are three different kinds of parents out there: 1) the "NOT MY CHILD" parents who don't want to even think their child is less than perfect, 2) the Active Parent.... Hands on, but not pushy as long as their child seems to be getting the services they need, and 3) the PROACTIVE Parent... the one who makes principals cringe when they step foot on campus because he/she knows that they are going to be asked a lot of questions about the services their child is not receiving and why aren't they receiving those services? I'm the latter. I had a chance to get a job at my kids' school in the learning center, but I want the principal to work for me, not visa versa.

debsuewoo, my sons teacher wants him to be tested for asbergers syndrome (which einstein and bill gates had/have) I'm conserned still though. My 3 year old is fine in speech but she has such a high pitch with a lot of words hardly anyone can understand her, especially because she slurs sertain words.

I am going through it as we speak, no pun intended. My baby who is 2 leaves off all constants and is about an 18 month old speech. Thankfully she qualified for medicaid. THey have a new thing that they do here in TX and it is amazing. It is called HIPO therapy. They put your cild on a horse and one 30 min session is like 6 hrs oral therapy. Something to do with the muscles that the horse's movements stimulate. Cristin has shown amazing results. Check into it guys. It also works for things like CP, MD, and paralisis.