Jul. 10, 2009 - Speech Therapy-To Do or Not To Do
As the schoolyear fastly approaches, I am faced with a decision: Speech Therapy for my 6 year old son, to do or not to do?
When Halston was about 2 yrs he had to have his front 4 top teeth pulled. They were rotted badly in fact 2 of them were rotted to the gum line. We were told that he would be without those teeth until he was 7 or so. Never did we think that losing those teeth could effect his speech. Because I am with him all the time I can understand him better than most. But about a year ago, his dentist discussed with me that she felt like he had developed a tongue thrust and needed speech therapy. I contacted our insurance company and we took him to be evaluated by a speech therapist. She was so very nice. She had two young children and told me that she planned to homeschool. I felt like she was honest and upfront with me. She told me that she felt like Halston needed therapy, but that our insurance wouldn't pay because they don't consider speech therapy a medical neccesity. Apparently, it is a luxury to talk plain!lol To make a long story short, our insurance will not pay for speech therapy. One day, I was at my kids' doctor's office and I saw a pamplet for our board of education. While reading it, I discovered that they provide services to homeschoolers. One of those services is speech therapy. I prayed about it, but couldn't decide whether I wanted to go that route. While at my 20 yr high school reunion, a classmate began talking to me about homeschooling. Her husband is a politician. Their son goes to a private school. He is the same age as Halston, and also has a tongue thrust. They paid for private therapy that cost over $2,000.00. She encouraged me to contact the school board. So after much debate, I called them. They were very nice and helpful. They wanted to review the evaluation done by the speech therapist. After reviewing, they have decided that they may be able to help him. They are going to evaluate him in August and then he will go to school twice a week for 30 mins. each for speech therapy.
My concerns are: Will he be treated differently because he is homeschooled? Will the board of education become envolved in my children's schooling? Currently, we umbrella under a Christian school.
Belinda
Comments
Jul. 21, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Have you done any research on at-home lessons you can do with your son? Something you could be in control of.
I will be praying for your decision, and your little boy, I just want to let you know I am moving my blog, I will leave you a comment with the new link when I get settled. One more thing, I have a cousin who has 4 kids, 2 of them had horrible teeth when they were little and it affected their speech, they both had speech therapy through their public school, the little boy is 10 and started the therapy 3 years ago, he is a tiny bit better but I still have a hard time understanding him. The little girl is 12 and she started therapy when she was 8, she has not improved at all. Maybe it is the specialist working with them, who knows.
-tf
