Does My Toddler Need Speech Therapy
As a parent, we are always concerned about our child’s development.
Does your toddler need speech therapy? As a parent, I have worried about my own children. As a speech therapist, let me help you know when to start looking for an evaluation or speech therapy for your kid. Learn about my experience as a speech therapist here.
In a world of social media where everyone’s “best” is on display at all times. It is easy to compare our child to Susan down the block or even Karen across the globe. This can cause us unnecessary anxiety and place unrealistic expectations on our children. I am not a parent or speech therapist that focuses on academics at such young ages. However, evidence supports early intervention for kids with speech and language disorders.
What is Early Intervention?
Asha.org (American Speech & Hearing Association) defines Early Intervention here as “Early intervention is for children ages birth to 3 and their families. Early intervention is available in every state under federal law”.
Looking at getting your child evaluated for early intervention services? Click here for a list of who to contact in your state.
how do I know if my child needs evaluated for speech therapy?
This is the tricky part. A speech therapist cannot definitively tell you this answer without doing an evaluation. If you are using insurance to pay for speech therapy, insurance will require an evaluation from a licensed speech therapist. Here are a few skills from ASHA.org (not a comprehensive list) that will provide you with some guidance.
If you notice that your child aged 0-3 isn’t:
- talking using single words
- learning new words consistently
- following simple directions
then it is time to get an evaluation by a speech language pathologist.
It will never hurt to get an evaluation.
I often tell parents, if your child gets an evaluation, this does not mean you must continue with therapy. Or get therapy from that particular speech therapist. This simply gives you concrete answers to if your toddler needs speech therapy at the time of the evaluation.
Truthfully, this is not always a simple process. If you don’t “mesh” with the speech therapist, find a new one! Each speech therapist will have different specialties and areas of strength. I am not an expert in treating stuttering. Autism? Language Delays? Nonverbal? Augmentative and Alternative Communication? Those are my strengths.
How to find a speech therapist that meets your child’s needs will be discussed in a future post.
For ages 3-5
Great article thanks a lot!