When friends with young children ask how to get speech therapy for their child, I usually have to shrug in ignorance. I can tell them exactly what to do for a school aged child, but pre-Kindergarten? I’m at a loss. Last fall, however, I found this page on Speechville.com
How to Find Help to Pay For Your Child’s Speech Therapy
This page provides a multitude of great ideas including:
University Speech Therapy Clinics: All Masters Students need to go through many hours of clinical practice. Because the students are being graded, they usually go above and beyond to provide the best services. The speech therapy provided is usually excellent and very inexpensive. There are often long waiting lists to get into these clinics so sign up right away.
Rite Care: Free and/or inexpensive Speech Therapy Clinics provided through the Scottish Rite Foundation. I have known several excellent Speech Pathologists who provided services at the Scottish Rite.
Early Intervention State Offices : Scroll down on the page and choose your state from the drop down menu. The page will provide you with some contact information for evaluation and therapy services up to age 5. A doctor can provide you with a referral, or you can refer your own child.
Private Insurance: Contact your health insurance company. Your doctor will need to provide your child with a referral.
School-aged Therapy Services (for children grades K-12): Contact your child’s classroom teacher or school-based Speech Pathologist.
Remember: Early therapy provides early successes and the building blocks for many skills. Do not put off an evaluation or therapy if you suspect that your child may benefit from them.
CC is a Speech-Language Pathologist and mother of 2. You can find many more speech therapy ideas (and a current giveaway!) at her blog If Only I Had Super Powers.