Help me decipher this-- Re: ese preschool and speech

bparkhur

My son is currently 3 1/2 and has been in ese preschool since August. When he transitioned from early steps, they told us "let's wait and see" for speech therapy because he had scored close to normal range for expressive speech but fairly deficient in receptive speech.

Fast forward to now. the school is year is halfway over. I just had my son evaluated privately for speech and we were told he has the speech of a 2.3 year old, and that we should start therapy asap.Great, let's do it (but I'm wondering why he hasn't been getting speech in school if he is that far behind, and he's made a TON of progress since we was evaluated in early steps). We start private sessions next week.

I just got his progress report from his ese preschool teacher who writes, "He does not speak much and when he does, many words are not understandable. He slurs most words in the sentence. If the listener can catch 1-2 words, meaning is conveyed."

She is right; he does indeed do a lot of slurring (I think I understand more of it since he's my kid, but he CAN speak in basic sentences and can seem to convey his wants and needs pretty clearly).

 I wrote a note back to her saying, "Let's evaluate for speech therapy--let me know what we need to do to make this happen." This seemed like the logical response after a progress report about slurred speech.

She wrote me back today saying, "I will have SLP listen to him and make the determination if he has enough language to assess." What does that mean..."if he has enough language to assess?" Wasn't he already assessed (and denied based on so-called "proficiency") in early steps. How did I just have a successful eval with a private hospital? I'm just very confused. Can anyone shed some light on this? I will ask her, but drop off is chaotic in the morning, and he has to go to aftercare since I work full-time. We have a conference on the 18th, but I'd like to get resolution before then. Thanks in advance if you've read this far.

bparkhur

I will also add that I am already frustrated with the school because they would not offer him therapy for his horrible drool problem (because apparently it's not "academically relevant"...whatever). I've had two SPLs approach me on separate occasions (at the grocery store and target) to randomly ask if he was getting services. They won't bring in an OT even though he eats no lunch everyday (he has sensory problems and severe eating aversions) because "it's only been done once when a child had an actual feeding tube; some kids just don't eat much." He was in therapy for two years for feeding in early steps. I'm starting to feel like they are trying to find reasons not to help us even though I KNOW they must be in these jobs because they care (faulty assumption?)

LSUnoelle1220

Hello, Just a lurker here. I am a physical therapist with some experience in school based physical therapy. I don't know much about speech so I can't offer anything there. However, I do know that I have seen OT and SLP work on eating issues at school.

Also, as a therapist it has been very frustrating at times, when I want to work on something that is developmentally important (in your case the drooling). But, it isn't considered important in the basis of what the child needs at school. I think the best place for you is a private therapist to work on those specific things that aren't by definition "school related".

rboisvert

It sounds like your LO is still in preschool and should therefore still be under CPSE (as opposed to CSE).  In my state (NY) parents of preschoolers can self refer their child for eval by calling their school district (not the preschool your LO attends) to request the eval.  Preschoolers should be getting services as appropriate for self care skills.  Good luck.

jayro10

I am just a lurker here, but I am also a preschool speech-language pathologist. I agree that it sounds like your child should definitely qualify for speech therapy in the schools-- and probably should have qualified months ago! Definitely put in a written evaluation request and supply a copy of a report from your private therapist.

In regards to feeding/drooling issues in school, while these are areas that an SLP would typically work on, it is difficult because we are constrained by special education laws and have to show academic impact. Feeding therapy is not typically something that an SLP would dive into very deeply, if at all, for safety reasons. Schools are not equipped with devices and technology to assess whether a child is safely swallowing, or has aspirated food/drink. It's best to let a clinically-based team address those issues, if they are severe.

Hope I could help shed a little light. Good luck!

tmrchi

Definitely email or send a written letter saying you'd like to "request a speech evaluation" or "request a meeting to review an outside evaluation"  Using that language, the school should reply to your request within a week (either to set up a meeting, or call/email denying your request for a meeting) Most tests can't be repeated within a calendar year, so the school may just use the information from the outside evaluation, or they may choose to do more testing if they think it would provide usable information.  Also, don't go based on the age equivalents in the report.  They'll want to use the actual percentiles if listed.  Generally 16%-84% is average and most schools stick hard to only providing services for kids under that 16th percentile mark.  If your child doesn't qualify for special education speech services (IEP), ask what interventions they are eligible for.  Schools can provide "Tier" services for speech without waiting for scores to drop below that actual 16th percentile.

ETA: It is frustrating, but schools hands are tied if problems don't "impede a student's education"  For instance, if he is able to say something clearly when he takes his time, but slurs when excited or rushed, they may not be able to provide services because "he can do it" but needs to be reminded to slow down etc.  Believe me it frustrates the heck out of us teachers, but generally we can't do anything about it.