Getting enough speech therapy?????
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| Fri, 07-15-2005 - 11:33am |
I posted this question on the speech board, but it looks as though Bari is on vacation or something...lots of unanswered posts, and a message from ivillage trying to find her, LOL!
Anyway, I've been wondering if Nathan should also have private speech therapy as well at therapy at school. Does everyone do both? Or just speech thru school? Our insurance will cover only a few visits, then we would have to pay. But money isn't really the issue, if Nathan really needs extra therapy I would do that.
Somedays, I feel he could benefit, then other days I see how well he's doing....and I'm just not sure. Everyone employed by the school district says he's doing extremely well, meeting his goals, etc. But should I take their word for it?? Or are my expectations of Nathan too high? I mean, how do you know for sure, if your child is getting enough??? He's 6 and his speech is at the level of a 4yr old. Is he on track?? Or could he be doing better with extra help??
I know I should be concentrating on the move....and maybe the move has been so stressful on Nathan that I'm thinking he needs more help....but I was just wondering what your opinions are.
Thanks,
Michelle

Obviously I don't have any idea if Nathan would do better with more ST or not but I can tell you about our experiences.
Jake has had 2 1/2 hours of 1:1 ST (1/2 hour per day) at school for the last 5 years. I also took him to an 45 minute private speech therapy session at a local child development center for 3 of those years (insurance covered everything but a $10 weekly co-pay).
Pat
Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response. --
Dear Michelle,
We have had Malcolm (age 8, PDD-NOS) in quite a bit of outside speech therapy and OT as well. He had 2 extra half hour a week sessions in speech and OT (still through school district) since age 3. By age 4, we added 2 more hours a week private outside speech and also 2 more hours OT. By age 5, his speech was really caught up, but his usage with others he wasn't comfortable with was still limited --- so we only kept extra half hour OT a week for sensory needs, and started adding outside therapy for social skills and small groups play therapy. Now we have added 2 hours a week psychotherapy.
Malcolm is a hard-working boy!!! This is all in addition to the therapeutic schools he has always been in and continues in, which do therapy all day long alongside the academics plus some pullout one-on-ones --- although I believe all his school pullouts are now in a small groups due to progress. As I have posted, this is his first summer off of therapeutic summer school (still in outside psychotherapy and sports therapy, home RDI continues as well.) He is still enjoying Day Camp alot (hooray!!!), stressful and challenging, but fun. He is proud of himself.
We know others who added lots of outside therapies for their high-functioning ASD children, and of those children that we know, they are doing great. It's always hard to say what mix of challenges and assistance produced the results, but if your son is two years behind, why not try out the outside speech therapy and see what happens? My instinct is that it's better to try too much and pull back than to wonder and regret it later. If it helps, win-win,and if not, quit it...
yours,
Sara
ilovemalcolm
Hi Michelle,
Keep in mind that the school district can't tell you that Nathan needs more than he's getting, or they'd be obligated to provide it!
Jack gets 3 hours of speech a week at school, and we still provide 2 hours at home. Nope, our insurance doesn't pay. But we think it's important. I think GOOD speech therapy is important. I've had some pretty bad stuff, too!
As long as Nathan is on an upward trend, and it sounds like he is, I wouldn't worry too much.
Cathy
we're having the same questions and the same wonderings. I have the name of a ST that specializes in kids w/ autism and I'm thinking I'll just call and see what she has to say. Weston is almost 9 and has fallen further behind in speech, now about the speech of a 5-6 yr old and still w/ the fluency problems. I've been procrastinating but need to do this.
I'd say it wouldn't hurt to have more speech therapy and if the insurance would pay for a few, I'd do it.
Betsy
Thanks everyone!! I think once we get settled into the new house, I'll ask around for a good speech therapist in town. It wouldn't hurt to see what they have to add, other than the therapy at school.
I've been listening in on conversations that Nathan has with his brother lately. (while I'm cleaning and packing!!) And he sounds great to me. He has come a long way. But there are times, and especially when he's around others....things tend to go downhill! Maybe I'm just used to the way he talks that I can't take another perspective. Having someone's else's opinion would be helpful and put my mind at ease. The not knowing what to do, not being able to make a decision....can be real difficult.
Thanks again,
Michelle
Michelle,
We started private speech therapy and OT because the school wasn't successful at implimenting therapy with Cassian. One thing I found with the school was that they like to do things in groups of kids. When your kid is on the Spectrum, especially when they are just starting out, practice in groups may be too advanced for them. OT was being done for 1/2 hour a week, and I kept getting notes home saying Cassian wouldn't cooperate. They wouldn't move him out of the classroom to a less distracting environment, and I don't think he liked the OT. I also found that the OT's in our schools had little or no sensory integration training and they focussed only on writing (no motor planning). The OT didn't work sensory and gross motor into Cassian's sessions, and she often farmed out the work to his regular teacher. The result was no progress with the school OT.
The private OT is a totally different story. Cassian is given lots of motor planning work in between short fine motor sessions, and he is often in the room with the OT by himself. If another child is brought in, there is only 1 other child and another OT, which Cassian can handle. The private OT is also happy to have me observe whenever I want, and she has floortime training, as well as sensory integration and some PT background. Compliance is almost no issue with the private OT.
ST was similarly watered down in school because they did it in a group. They were teaching formal lessons on colors and shapes, not social interaction skills. The private ST has floortime training and works primarily on conversational skills and play skills. She even does some work on nonverbals, which is rare in an ST. A SPED teacher I met around here also warned me that the school ST's were heavily into articulation, rather than working on the social skills an ASD child would need. The only social they seemed to work on was turn-taking in a circle-time setting. I did feel that Cassian benefited from the school ST, but I thought he should get more. Also, the private OT likes me to observe sessions, which helps me know what to practice at home. She is great about giving "homework."
I am in touch with our private OT and ST by email and have used them for consultation several times this year. The private OT looked over Cassian's IEP and gave me some good suggestions this Spring. I have just been more impressed with the private therapists we have used, compared to the school therapists. Maybe, they are just overworked and spread too thin, but I have often felt that the private therapists were more up to date on the latest techniques that are being employed with ASD children. The private therapists are also more interested in a broad definition of adaptation, whereas school therapists looked primarily at how Cassian would adapt to a classroom. School therapists were less interested in how Cassian interacted with peers on the playground, for example, which we know is a major issue for many ASD children, and a huge reason they learn to hate school and fail to develop real relationship skills.
Incidentally, our school system is one of the top systems in the country (Loudoun County VA). It is very up to date and well funded. It is not like we rank low as a school system, but you may find people who are forward thinking going into private practice because they are good enough to be sought out for their services. That's what I have found this past year, anyway.
Suzi
Hi there,
I was on vacation and