3-Year-old W/speech Problems

The last post was great. I would suggest going to a privtae center for an evaluation since it is so late in the school year. Not sure where you are located so call the school and ask them to make some suggestions.
Check out http://www.superduperinc.com/ . Super Duper is a catalog for items for speech therapy for kids with special needs. Whether a child has special needs or not, therapist use their products. There are so many things that you can do at home to help your daughter.

There is also http://www.expresstrain.org/. Express train uses music. My son loves it.
I sell a music CD with printable workbook which is a speechercise for the mouth. It is a fun way to get a child to do daily speech practice.

Hope I helped you a little.

R.
Director
Baby Crazy
www.iambabycrazy.com/R.

Hi-

Although your babysitter is right, the state program is a 0-3 program. When a child turns 3, these services are turned over to the local school district. That being said, definitely contact your local school district via phone AND in writing, requesting that your daughter get an evaluation for speech and language. They should comply, although it is the end of the year, and some districts don't evaluate this late in the year, and almost all do not evaluate in the summer. Do this quickly. What school district are you in? Good luck!

She needs to be evaluated in my opinion. My son is also three and has been in speech for over a year. His first signs of an issue were minimal utterances (number of words used per sentence) and poor clarity and articulation. At the age of three I would safely say she should be using at least 4-5 word sentences. My son goes to Pathways in Glenview, not sure if that is close. I would first find a center to have an evaluation and then call your insurance for coverage. I would no longer listen to the pediatrician. The worse the evaluation will show is that she is on track. But if she needs services the earlier the better. If you have anymore questions about our experience please feel free to message me. Good luck.

Has she had her hearing checked by an audiologist? The team at Rush University Medical Center is great. I believe most pediatric speech therapists like to see a hearing report prior to an evaluation if there is a concern about that. Check with your insurance to see if speech services are covered. Most only cover on-going therapy services if there has been an incident or injury (like a stroke) but not if there is just a delay. Audiology is generally covered though. Public Aid does cover both services though, if you have a medical card. Or, go through your local public school district as the others have mentioned for the speech, but you may still have to pay for audiology (hearing test). Good luck!

I had the same issue with my son who is now 3 1/2. We read books every day, before nap and bed time and in between.

His Dr assured me that everything was ok. But he just didn't seek ok to me. I went to my insurance company for referrals for speech therapists and there were none in my area who would treat my son because he was "older".

So I did call my school district and they have what they call preschool screenings twice a year. They check their motor skills, sight, hearing and speech.
It is through the state, so you don't have to pay anything. Now we go to speech 2 times a week and will continue in the fall. But there is such a huge improvement.

First thing I would do was call your Dr and see if they can check her hearing or refer you to a otologist to make sure that everything is good there.
Then contact your school district to see when they have the screening.

I also have a friend whos daughter has a speech issue. Her problem is that the roof of her mouth is not fully developed and has issues saying different sounds. So this might be something to check out. It is something she should grow out of but right now there is nothing they can do.

Good Luck to you!