Welcome to Parent Perspectives, an occasional series. In this interview series, I asked parents about their child’s experience in speech therapy. I asked the questions, and parents answered with honesty about their perspectives. My Child’s Experience With Speech Therapy: A Parent Perspective Part 1 is a fascinating read about Jessica’s experience with speech therapy for her son, who was a late talker.
Some housekeeping: I do not interview my own clients for this series. Instead, I find community members who are willing to talk about their experience. I do change the names of children and parents so that both can remain anonymous if they’d like.
I hope this series will be a chance for you to grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and join in on our conversation. This conversation was lightly edited for flow and clarity.
My Child’s Experience With Speech Therapy: A Parent Perspective (Jessica, Part 1)
First up is Jessica. Her son Michael has been attending speech therapy since he was a toddler. Jessica generously donated her time to talk to me. I loved her honest and insightful answers. Jessica let me know how she was feeling (nervous, optimistic) as she sought help for her son. Jessica also shared what her first speech therapy appointment was like, and how she found her SLP.
When did you realize your child first needed a speech language pathologist (SLP)?
We suspected Michael might need an SLP when he was 18 months old. He still wasn’t saying any words, so we thought he might just be a late talker. Also, we had heard boys are more often late talkers.
At that time, we talked to Michael’s doctor about our concerns. She wasn’t worried about Michael and asked us to check back at his 2 year visit.
At Michael’s 2 year visit, he still wasn’t talking. At that time, we finally got a referral for an evaluation with an SLP.
How did you find your SLP?
Our insurance provided us a list of clinic locations that accepted our insurance. We chose the closest clinic to our home.
What were your thoughts and feelings around the first speech therapy appointment?
Nervous. Optimistic. Also, eager to hear what the SLP would say. Going into the appointment, I had no idea what speech therapy would look like. Even so, I had high hopes they would be able to help Michael finally start talking.
Tell me about your first speech therapy appointment.
Our first appointment was for testing. After that, we could see where Michael’s communication skills were. After that appointment, we also found out if he would qualify for speech therapy.
I was nervous to see the results of the testing. I worried that maybe he would never talk! The SLP said Michael did need speech therapy. She also shared how effective early intervention was for speech therapy. She told us because he was young, he had a lot of time to catch up and that speech therapy could help.
Michael is usually very shy, but felt comfortable early on with the SLP. For the most part, he did a good job playing with her and showing her what he did and didn’t know. My child’s experience with speech therapy was a very positive one, so that felt good.
The appointment itself went well. However, after the evaluation we got put on a waiting list for speech therapy. When that happened, I felt frustrated. I’d just learned how important it was to attend speech therapy, only to wait on a waiting list.
At this point, our doctor suggested we check out our county’s early intervention program. These services are free for young children that qualify. We decided to do this while we were on the waiting list for speech therapy through our insurance.
Resources for Parents
If you want more information about the early intervention program Jessica mentioned, and your child is age birth-5, you can find out information about Jackson County’s Program here. If you live outside of Jackson County, look for early intervention programs in your area. These are usually provided either through the county or an Educational Service District (ESD).
I hope you enjoyed getting to know Jessica. If you like this post, be sure to read the second part of this interview. Jessica shares more about her thoughts on speech therapy. She also describes what makes a great SLP. She’ll also share updates on Michael, who now attends Kindergarten. The story continues!