Are you wondering if your child needs speech therapy? Maybe your concern began when you compared your younger child’s milestones to your older child’s. Maybe your parent began nudging you to “get his talking checked out,” saying, “It can’t hurt!” Maybe your friend’s child is speaking nonstop, and your child is content to stay quiet. Regardless of the reason, you are concerned about your child’s communication.

Before we move on to next steps, let’s make sure you understand the scope of a speech-language pathologist (SLP). SLPs and their assistants (SLPAs) work on a broad range of communication and feeding issues:

1.  Articulation: How speech sounds are made (e.g., saying “wed” instead of “red”)

2. Expressive Language: Ability to effectively communicate wants, needs, and ideas using verbal speech and nonverbal language (e.g., facial expressions, gestures, body language, and American Sign Language)

3. Receptive Language: Ability to understand others

4. Social/Pragmatic Language: Ability to perform social functions (e.g., greeting, asking questions, commenting) and modify language and behaviors to fit social situations

5. Fluency: The rhythm of speech; fluency disorders are often known as “stuttering”

6. Voice: Pitch, volume, rate, and quality of speech

7. Feeding: Disordered feeding leads to child’s refusal to eat certain food groups, textures, solids or liquids for a period of at least one month, which causes the child to not gain enough weight, grow naturally or cause any developmental delays

If your child has trouble communicating or understanding others, it may be time for an evaluation. Likewise, significant issues with mealtimes may indicate the need for a speech evaluation. For further information on language milestones, check out this helpful chart from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association: https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart/. As speech and language are closely tied to hearing, contact an audiologist with any concerns about your child’s hearing prior to pursuing a speech-language evaluation.

The next step is the evaluation! Families often need a referral from pediatrician, but some insurance companies allow for self-referral. If you have private insurance, call your insurance company to confirm the process. If your child receives services through Medicaid and has a support coordinator, he or she can help guide you through the initial steps. Evaluations typically take place at a local clinic or in-home; a quick internet search can provide suggestions for nearby therapy clinics. Theracare Pediatric Services provides services all over the valley and is a great place to start if you are located in Arizona!

Once the evaluation is scheduled, the evaluating SLP will likely send you case history forms to complete. Fill these out prior to your appointment to allow for adequate time and attention to details; the case history will drive the evaluation. During the evaluation, you may be asked to accompany your child or wait in the waiting room, depending on your child’s age and needs.

Following the evaluation, the SLP will score the standardized assessments and synthesize informal findings to create a report. If the findings support the need for speech-language therapy, you will receive a call to set up services. Speech-language services take place in either the clinic or at home, and you can work with the provider to figure out what works best for your child and family. Regardless of the outcome, pursuing an evaluation shows just how much you care for your little one!