Speech therapy

Does insurance cover speech therapy? I'm thinking of taking Wil for an evaluation. Someone I know used to be a ST and she charges $200 for an eval. Since she doesn't technically work anymore, I'm sure she can't take insurance. So I'm wondering if this is a deal or not. I don't know her well enough to just ask. She seems thorough, but I was hoping she would do me a favor.

My insurance covers it after a large deductible and a prescription from the pediatrician.

My elementary school gave me speech therapy when I was in kindergarten thru 5th grade. It was done by the school and didnt cost a thing. I couldnt make certain sounds like the G and the R sound. I still catch myself now where I have to correct it. But some insurance companies cover it, call them.

Do you have a Birth to Three program? If he's under 3 and you have a program like that you can take him there to get a free evalutation. I would contact your local school district and they can point you in the right direction.

Call the school district. We had Matt tested a couple months ago an he tested fine in all areas so didn't qualify for the speech therapy.

Hmmm, I like this idea! I'll have to call around and see. Thanks

Just call the D20 admin office?? Didn't cost you anything??

We are in 49 but it was totally free. I would call 20 and just ask where and when.

speaking of this, I posted this website a while ago when I was questioning Jamison's speech and I found it helpful.

Speech Sounds Development

This post has been edited by Jamison'smama on Feb 7 2007, 01:05 PM

Thanks for this! This is really cool!

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I am curious as to whether or not you had your child tested, who did the testing and what the results were.

It's summer vacation, now, but if he hasn't been tested yet, you can have the school do it in the fall. It is a FEDERAL LAW that they have to test him! Make them pay for it, that's what are tax dollars are for!

Sorry if I sound a little hot. This happens to be a touchy subject for me.

Here in Alberta its covered through our alberta health system. Jenna has a speech therapy, occupational therapist and physical therapiost workign with her and it all covered. She goes to a early intervention school program and its government funded until she reaches 6 years old. then ill have to pay.

I have a question along these lines. Is it normal for a 2 year old child to say a letter perfectly in the beginning of the word but change it if it's repeated in the word? For instance....Thomas says Pappy like Packy and he says Momma like Mon-a. He says the P and M perfectly at the beginning of the word but not the second time.

yes at 2 years old they are still figuring out sounds and words and such. if at 3 years old if he is still not understandeable by strangers or anyone other than the parents then they need to be evaluated...

We're having Grace evaluated for her speech. Her pediatrician said at 3 a stranger should be able to understand her about 80% of the time, and she's probably at about 10%.
Here in Texas there's a program called PPCD (Preschool program for Children with Disabilities) for children who are 3-5. The evaluation, program and any transportation you might need are covered by the state.
Then once they start school, if they still need any help they start another type of program that's also paid for by the state.

Here in my town, the school district runs free screenings every month. They screen for speech, hearing, physical development, sight, etc. They also do fluoride varnish on teeth for no charge. Our water supply is not fluoridated.
Although, Wil is getting therapy now, right, Rae? How's that going? Better since you asked for homework?

Right now, we pay out of pocket for Mason's ST. He just began in March. Aliyah saw the same therapist, one who visits their school but has a private practice, for the last year and a half.

As far as evaluations go, we were screened for free through the district.

Wil has been in ST since February (date of which I think I posted this). He will get free in-home ST (once a week) until he turns three, which is the end of August. And then he will get it in preschool, which he starts in September, again for free. This is a great service and I wouldn't have known about it if Lisa (see reply above) had not told me about it. I just called my school district office and they had someone from the organization (called the Resource Exchange) call me back for an appt. Well wait...first they sent someone out to our home to interview whether we were eligible. Just to sorta see if Wil seemed like he was even worth evauating I suppose. We did A LOT of paperwork. Then we had to meet at the school district office for the evaluation where a ST, OT, school psych and I think a preschool teacher were there for the eval. He passed all areas except speech. This is a GREAT service and I highly recommend seeing if your state has it available if you are curious if your child has a speech delay. No out of pocket expenses at all.