I don’t know anything about speech therapy, but will be hearing about it. My 3 yr-old grandson just started at his private daycare in NC. They diagnosed him and have someone coming in to provide therapy. I really struggle to communicate with him, so am very thankful.
I have a question. He always says, “Me wants____” or “Me going _____”. He struggles with “I”. Am I wrong to correct him? Would his parents think I’m rude to correct him?
My son would always be “graduated out of needing speech therapy” by each speech therapist—the elks in preschool, the speech therapists who served his 1st and then 6th grades. He was re-referred at both 1st and 6th grades because tho he could speak as clearly as he wanted to-Rs and Ls were a problem. Happily it cleared up great working with the speech therapy students in the after school program and since then, there is no trace of any speech issue.
My son (now nearly age 16) started speech therapy at about age 20 months, when he had just 2-3 words (but clearly understood more). In Colorado, it’s a free program administered by the school district. We might have started earlier, but this came on the heels of an interstate move, and it took a few months for us to get it together.
She was a godsend. She taught us sign language (which we had never had to use with his early-talking big sister), and other ways to improve communication and language use through play. By the time he “graduated” from speech therapy at age 3, he wouldn’t stop talking! He still had a few sounds that he hadn’t quite gotten (“r” and “th,” if I recall), but the speech therapist assured us that those would come in time, and they did. It helped that his preschool had a language intervention specialist on staff.
These days, he’s very much a verbal kid – a talented writer who has a way with words (spoken and written). His experience just goes to show that each kid will get there in their own time – but early intervention is key.
In my state, a hearing screening is required.
Have his parents ask how to address this. In my opinion, you should not correct him without clear guidance that he has learned the correct usage. As I’ve said, communication with these littles needs to be positive, not corrective (which can actually discourage talking).
If your grand says ( for example) “me want ice cream”…a good thing to do is include the correct model in your response…so you could respond “I love ice cream too”. That way you have validated your grand’s communication AND responded using a good model for the little one to hear
Your school may be telling you that, but they are wrong.
The law does not require schools to use RTI before conducting an evaluation . If you have been told these things, you need to know that they are not in the federal law. Get the Parent Guide to RTI. RTI is not a process you begin when you believe a student has a disability.
While RTI will often identify kids who need extra help it is not required before requesting an eval. Nor does it take the place of an eval.
I fully agree. When there already is evidence of a disability, an evaluation can happen without RTI happening…at all. But there still has to be some data to support it. This is where what the student is actually doing on a day to day basis matters. I’ve been in many situations where there was very sufficient data to move directly to evaluation. RTI interventions can and should be implemented also, but you don’t have to wait and wait and wait for an evaluation to be approved and done.
It is a state requirement. When I complete an IEP there is a section that needs to be filled out - I need to write what was done prior to the evaluation.
The company that we use creates these documents and they follow state regulations.
Where I am, that can include any instructions done in the regular classroom. It does NOT need to be the RTI process.
Parents in your state need to fight that.
Yes…
When I do an eval I need to meet with the teacher first and create a plan, collect data etc. Then- we can move to an eval if necessary (most of the time it is). I am calling it RTI but technically I am not sure that is what the school calls it- for speech.
For special education students, the school must do RTI first. That is a state requirement. The process is the same as what I do, except they have an IR&S meeting first and I do not.
Either way- we must document what we have done prior to the evaluation.
The documents I have to complete for my speech kids are exactly the same documents that are filled out for RTI in special Ed- in my state.
RTI never takes the place of an eval, and my school would never do that. We ALWAYS work in the best interest of the child and nobody ever stops us. If we need to go straight to an eval, we do.
Can we please stick to helpful suggestions for little ones who might need speech therapy services? That was why I started this thread…it was not to discuss the legalities of what can’t or shouldn’t be done in the process…which can be a whole other thread IF someone wants to start it.
Let’s continue to provide helpful info…please.
I don’t know if this is true nationally, but where I live and work a child needs a 33% delay in 1 area, or a 25% delay in 2 areas…for preschool services.
This varies by state…and again is procedural…not suggestions to help.
I’m away from home until next week. I would be happy to post some suggestions for different age groups to facilitate good communication skills. I will say…reading even to very young kids is such a great thing to do. Once they can talk, my rule of thumb for book choices…make sure there isn’t too much text, and there are good supportive pictures. The child should be able to retell the story just by looking at the pictures. So for the little ones…better descriptive pictures and less words!
Reading is a great way to model articulation and language skills. You can also go to the ASHA website and read what is expected at different ages.
Parent brings up concern. Brushed off with we’ll bring it up at the RTI meeting. No timeline required. RTI put into place 4-6 weeks. Parents finally get info RTI isn’t working. Formally request an eval. 10 SCHOOL DAYS to respond. 30 days for an eval. 45 days SCHOOL DAYS to schedule a meeting. This brings you to Christmas break at the earliest by the way. NOT a fan of RTI for kids with suspected LDs.
I was a kindergarten teacher in low income schools for years. RTI was a way for the school district to kick special Ed issues down the line. And ask me how effective I was at using a mirror to do one-to-one speech modeling and basic speech therapy with one kindergarten child, and document it, etc, while the other 21 kindergarten children were……doing what? Might I add that I have no training in offering Speech Therapy, and that at my title 1 school, I usually had several children with severe behavioral or educational issues. RTI just delayed getting services to those kids who really needed it.
And, back to the topic at hand. I have a 2-year-old granddaughter who is being assessed for pretty severe speech delays, so all suggestions are appreciated!
Has she had a hearing test?
Please move the RTI discussion to PM or start a new thread. Thank you.
No. I have mentioned this to DS, and I am sure the assessment team will mention the necessity of this. GD has had lots of respiratory issues , so it is possible she has fluid in her ears or “glue ear.”