Particularly since the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the public options available to parents to cover the costs of speech therapy have been gradually tightening. I have seen many children in my practice who previously would easily qualify for services, but now are turned away, making the question of “how to pay for speech therapy” even more challenging.
Today, we are proud to launch a new home-based speech therapy service through Speech Buddies Connect, the first online marketplace for parents to find and book appointments with local speech professionals.
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If your child needs to see a speech therapist, there are a ton of great resources to help you through the process. Teachers, pediatricians, ASHA, and the all-knowing Google can guide you through the basics: from what’s an SLP to how to do I understand my IEP? But, there are times when you just want to hear about the experience from another parent. How did they react to the idea of speech therapy? How do they find the time for it? What is Speech Therapy like? What did their other kids think about their big brother having special appointments? Did they ever get a hang of all the acronyms? How do other families go from “I think we need to see someone” to “Speech therapy, yup, that’s a regular part of our family life.”
This question, and its associated anxiety, can dawn on any parent at any stage in their child’s development. In fact, approximately 10% of school-age children in the United States are living with some form of a communication challenge. Even though communication challenges are quite common, it can be difficult and confusing to navigate the journey from the first moment of concern to a child finally receiving the appropriate services. This guide aims to provide you with some of the very first steps about whom, besides yourself, shares responsibility for setting your child on track for success — especially when you’re realizing, “I think my child needs speech therapy!”
Animals Can Be An Excellent Supplement to Speech Therapy. Image courtesy of www.pawsandthink.org
Shark Week is here! Shark Week is here!! Sure, it’s fun to watch on TV, but what does it have to do with speech and language therapy? Actually, quite a bit. Sure, there is our good friend the Shark Buddy, but what about swimming with dolphins, riding horses or even petting a dog? Animal-assisted therapy has been gaining strength in popularity and recognition as an effective part of a therapy regime for children who have a wide range of social, language and communication disorders.
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