This morning Alex had a speech evaluation. What's that? It seems like we've been talking about Alex's speech since his first word? Yes, yes we have. Since the first speech milestone, Alex has always been one of those kids on the border. He technically hits each speech milestone but just by a hair. We have been monitoring and tracking this, continually talking to his pediatrician. Shortly before the boys turned 3, we had the make the decision on whether to get him evaluated FOR FREE by Early Intervention or not.
You might remember from their 3 year checkup, the pediatrician did not feel his enunciation was bad enough to warrant calling Early Intervention but it needed to stay on the Worry List. The plan was to check in at 3.5 and if Alex's speech still wasn't 95% clear to complete strangers, then to follow up with speech therapy (NOT FREE) for an evaluation. Alex still struggles with some speech so I took him for his evaluation this morning.
The Very Good News: Alex's speech is considered in the average range, albeit on the lower end. They gave me a list of the letters he still does not pronounce correctly and a chart on when to expect those sounds to be perfected. The ones he does not pronounce correctly may not develop until age 7. They do not want to see him for treatment unless we feel there is a cause for concern. We should continue to be vigilant but he is "normal."
The Not Very Good News: $170 bill on the way out since speech therapy falls into a different category for most insurance policies.
With all the worry and time we have spent discussing this, we should have just called EI FOR FREE. Because you know what? That was just the bill for the evaluation. They wouldn't even book our appointment until they confirmed insurance and informed us how much it would most likely cost for treatment because speech therapy is that expensive and not well covered by insurance. I had to sign more paperwork before Alex's speech appointment than I did having to take him home as a preemie from the NICU.
But I do want to end this story on an up note which is that Alex is finally in the average range for speech. This is huge, very huge, and the VERY LAST preemie worry to check off the list. Mama would celebrate with a caramel brulee latte but my coffee money went to speech therapy. HA!
17 comments:
YAY! Seriously good news and worth a latte.
Great news! Do you mind sharing some of the sounds on the list that aren't expected to be sounded correctly until they are older? Paige still says "w" for "v". And sometimes "d" for "l". It's kinda cute though when she says "I've been a wery wery good girl." Or when she asks for her "Piddow" (pillow).
Oh my I can't agree more about calling them. Our pedi told us not to worry about my son's as well but I called anyway. They will be 3 at the end of this month and he will be starting at the developmental preschool in January for speech...all through the state. I am not sure of where you live but I think you can still have him evaluated through the school system after the age of 3 and he could qualify there. Noah was on the lower end of "average" in several of his categories but at the time they did the evaluation (2 months ago) he was lacking in a lot of things so fell below average on a few, enough to get him in.
We have been doing speech and OT through ECI since last May. I am glad I did it and I encourage any parent who is concerned about their child to have the evaluation done, it's free, it's nothing but your time that will be taken and if nothing else it will give you peace of mind.
Yep. I've spoken with enough parents who have dealt with speech issues to have learned that this is the case. I was os glad when my neighbor had her son evaluated. He passed on the lower end of normal, but the peace of mind it provided was huge. And, it was free!
I'm glad that Alex is progressing normally. In fact, I'm a bit surprised considering that a certain brother of his may not let him speak nearly as much as he would if Alex were an only child.
Wow, can you imagine what it would be like if they were both talkers?
I am going to try creme brulee today at Starbucks - I've been dying to. I agree with you about the EI evaluation - it's free, but I don't think the speech services are useful so we'd have to go private anyway. But enough about me - congratulations to you and your kick-ass boys!
That's great news. Glad you can cross that worry off your list!
Great news and a wonderful way to celebrate!! We were part of NV Early Intervention and I must say it is SO nice to hear your child is normal and has no preemie issues from a licensed professional!
EI has been great for us. But I feel your pain on costs. One of my girls has PT through our local children's hospital. It's covered by our insurance... after a $750 deductible... and then we pay 20%.
YAY ALEX!
sidenote - did you know that the caramel brulee lattes are seasonal??? The bastards got us all hooked and then they're taking them away in January! WAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Good news on the normal progression. I find it interesting how things for EI are run from state to state. Jake had a speech eval at 2 because he was on the low end of average and they wanted him evaluated before any setbacks that might occur from welcoming a newborn baby in the house. In the end, he blossomed that summer and has been on track ever since but my point was the eval was 100% covered through our insurance. From the ages of 2-5 we have free EI through the county and school district so I am sorry to hear it is so pricey for you guys in your state.
Awesome news! But stinky that you had to go the private route. Here in MA, after they age out of EI, the public school system takes over. My Nate was in EI for speech, tested out about 2 years ago, and now is being reevaluated by the public school system based on the recommendation of his preschool teacher. Of course, the downside is dealing the the SLOW school district. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better just to pay the $170 and get it done...
wow, good to know! You know I have been on the fence about it. Cole has (in the past two weeks) really picked up in hes speech...but I may do an eval still just to be sure, and like you said...to do it while its free!!!
Congrats on the clean bill of, um, speech!
I didn't have Melody evaluated until right before she turned three, but we're fortunate to have not-a-penny-from-our-pocket insurance. Feeding therapy was fantastic, and last night Lucas and I decided to return to her to have the girlies' speech evaluated. The therapist told me to watch it for a few months, and the girls are noticeably less clear in their speech than their peers, although their vocabulary and grammar are astoundingly mature.
I just read Joanna's comment and had to laugh. Mine are both talkers. Tonight they got into an enormous argument about who got to speak, because Melody didn't think she needed to relinquish her turn until she was done with her thought ... but in fairness to Jess, it had been a 30-minute-long thought.
Great news with your son's speech. If you have other concerns with your child's articulation, you may want to check out www.speechtails.com. It is an online speech learning site that provides an alternative to traditional articulation learning. There is a free assessment to see where your child falls with regard to his speech. Maybe you won't have to use your latte money for speech!! Good luck
That is great news about his progress. The girls have been in speech therapy since they were 2 (at which point they barely said anything at all) They are still just a little bit behind, but we are continuing with the therapy--in part because it is free, through the local elementary school where they will go next year. The Early Intervention programs are amazing, and it's a shame that many people don't know about them. When the time comes, call your schools, if he needs therapy, he might be able to get it there at little or no cost.
I also agree about the holidays this year. My girls are beyond excited, at almost 4.5. This has been the best year, and the best holiday season so far.
Merry Christmas!
To make you feel better, my twins were in EI since birth and started speech therapy at 16 months. At 3 yo they tested out of speech therapy, they were doing great. But my son still has enunciation issues, they just didn't feel it was a big enough issue to warrant therapy through the state program which starts after EI ends (at 3 yo). So as you found out, Alex is quite normal and I guess for enunciation EI wouldn't have helped much anyway. It's a great program though and I am so grateful it exists. It really gave me peace of mind with my preemies.
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