Oy. That is indeed some flakiness. So sorry to hear it- I do behavior therapy with kids in EI, and cancelling is really not tolerated, not from the parents or the therapists. Scheduling is so tough, everyone has to commit. Bummer that you have had such a lousy experience, but it's wonderful that Archer enjoys school and you feel he is supported and encouraged there.

You're nicer than I am. I'd be rattling my cage if people canceled on my son and offered me half-assed answers. I can't imagine how frustrating and disappointing the whole experience has been for your family.

As a social worker I really encourage you to let the powers that be know how disappointing the experience was. By "powers that be" I mean local politicians and supervisors of these "therapists". Just because a program is state funded doesn't mean you aren't entitled to good service. You pay taxes and bust your ass, you deserve quality service for your investment in the system. In this case, when you advocate for yourself, you're also advocating for all of the children that come after Archer. A lot of social services don't have a sense of accountability because so many of their clients don't know how to advocate for themselves. But I'm sure you do!

Lastly, I'm so happy Archer has found a place to let his freak flag fly. A good preschool can do wonders. Socialization can do wonders. Creativity can do wonders. Patience and kindness can work miracles.

I feel you on this.  #1 I was in speech therapy from age 5 until 12 and I don't think it did me a bit of good and I despised the particularly speech "teachers" whose job it was to make me spend time doing things like talk -- which I would've done anyway -- and make me feel like  retard. Near as I can tell, I got older, I heard myself, I adjusted on my own to fit in.  

Also, my babe was recommended for possible early intervention and the state of NJ line I called at the rec of my doc?  Still hasn't called me back a week later.  Awesome.  F them.

But bless you for sharing, if you believe in the blessing stuff. :)

Amen, sisters and yes, Regional Center knows all about our issues with therapists. And Susie? It took us four plus months from the time we called to our first appointment with a specialist. Super annoying.

My godchild has a speech/learning disorder and since the time I realized she had difficulty, I've wanted to go back to school for speech therapy degree.  I think it would be really interesting and rewarding to work with children in that way.  

I hate when people half ass their jobs.  I've been everything from a camp counselor to a waitress and I believe in doing what I'm paid to do.

Oh crap. I am an Speech-Language Pathologist and it REALLY sucks when someone(s) give your profession a bad name. Speech and language intervention can be and SHOULD be a wonderful experience for both child and parent. It should be based on what the the family wants in EI and should NOT include people canceling on you FOUR TIMES IN A ROW or GIGGLING when asked about the child's progress!  I am so sorry. I swear there are really good SLPs out there. Competent ones, that show up, and therapize.

I'm sorry you have had such a bad experience with speech therapists!  My little niece (7 years old) has a few speech impediments and she has been in therapy for a few years now.  It has really helped her and she went from being unable to say but a few words to stringing sentences together.  So, don't lose hope!  There a few good ones out there, I guess it's a matter of finding them underneath whichever rocks they happen to be hiding under (perhaps there's a way you can find reviews of therapists on the internet?).  

PS.  I'm a lurker on your site, this is my first comment.  Great blog!

i understand how frustrated u are concerning the speech therapists and their 'unprofessional' conduct.  on the flip side, i go above and beyond in servicing the e.i. kids i see (never cancel, on time, bring articles relevant to their particular problem) and sometimes i think some of my parents think that i am 'typical' and they take my professionalism for granted.  i wish sometimes they would experience one of the therapists that u encountered as a reality check.

Long time lurker here - I'm so sorry to hear what happened to you. For what it's worth, I started out with a similar experience when I was younger - I had a bad lisp up until age 10 or so. For years, I had the at school speech therapy, in which they just made me say pages of s words, which obviously didn't help all that much because I just lisped through them! Utterly useless. That said, we finally hired a REAL speech therapist, and she sat down and watched me eat different foods, try to speak different words, whatever - and by the end of the first session, had figured out exactly what was wrong and actually taught me how to fix it! In my case, the real issue was my THs, not my Ss, in that I wasn't articulating the TH sound so my S sound sounded the same - if that makes sense. We had a few more sessions, but really, I could have been done after that one - it was less than a month before the lisp was gone completely, and it's never come back for a second. All this to say - if you can find a therapist with REALLY good recommendations and qualifications, it just might be worth ponying up for a few sessions - it was for me. YMMV, of course. I preordered Rockabye, I'm excited to get to read it when it arrives!

Rebecca,

You really need to talk to someone about this.  If these people aren't attentive to Archer's needs and aren't doing their job, they need to be reported.  Your tax dollars are paying for this service.  And if they do this to you, how many other people are they doing it to??  

We had an awful speech therapist too.  She'd cancel at the last minute, and she made Nate (a really active little kid) sit in a chair for his hour long therapy.  It was an awful fit, and I finally called and changed therapists.  The new one was wonderful and he did finally catch up.  But after reporting the first one, I found out she didn't show up often and most children did not like her.  

The biggest problem with speech therapy (at least here in NW Indiana) is the supply/demand issue.  There are far more kids needing speech therapy than therapists available.  I don't know if that is the case in California, but it isn't fair to you or Archer.  

I did learn one important thing from having 3 kids who were speech delayed, comprehension is far more important than articulation at this point.  If Archer can understand what you mean when you talk to him, that's a good thing.  

Also, it is a good sign that he is enjoying and learning in preschool.  

He seems like a wonderful little boy.  Hal and you are great parents.  Enjoy him.

So sorry to hear things didn't go well with speech therapy.  That is a major bummer.

There is a major shortage of SLPs in SoCal (and elsewhere, I'd guess), so that may be why yours could get away with being a flake.  So sorry to hear that.  

As for not making eye contact with you when you asked about progress, I would say that's a red flag. I hope you will stick with Regional Center long enough to go through Archer's 3 year psych eval.  Not to freak you out, but it may be that there's stuff going on with him that the SLP didn't want to talk to you about.  If he needs more intervention, that would be a good time to find out about it.  And the school district can be a more consistent provider of services after the child turns three.

I so feel for you. Surprisingly enough, when we lived in Boston and our girls were in EI, we had very young, inexperienced, and basically useless therapists. But since moving to one of the poorest states out there - New Mexico - where I feared even worse services, I've found the best EI and speech therapist folks EVER. I dread the day when they say we no longer qualify for their services. Who knew?

I think you did the right thing to pull the plug and take advantage of preschool instead. With your wonderful parental energies and the socialization of school, I bet he'll catch right up! And that is the coolest book cover EVER!

Can I ask where you went for your speech therapy?  I worked for a great company that combined Early Intervention in a preschool setting with speech therapy.  They often came into the school and had separate one-on-one meetings during the week.  From what I remember they were pretty consistent.

You really need to make sure that the powers that be (where speech therapy is concerned) read this entry. I think some parents would just keep on keeping on, assuming they're doing everything they can for their kid...

I find this pretty shocking. It's not like you're living in some backwater -- L.A is, obviously, a major city. That they can't seem to hire anyone competent to do the very important job of providing services like this to children, is pretty horrifying.

That said, I wonder if the preschool itself will largely solve the problem? I've watched my own child and the other kids in her preschool class make major strides in their speech and comprehension over the last year or so. I think just getting to interact with other kids and with adults other than their own parents provides a huge advantage.

That really sucks.  May I ask which regional center you used?  The one that we had was Southcentral RC and the kids there didn't always get what they needed.  But I found the WSRC helped out some parents a lot.  I guess its just different for everyone.  We had a lot of passionate Speech Therapists.

But, i agree with what the above commenter said - i think pre school will probably help a lot.

good luck :)

Yeah, I'd be pissed too but I'm a ltr writing, find out who's a the top and let my voice be heard person.  That crap doesn't fly.

I'm glad he has a teacher that loves what she's doing and is helping Archer.  

Forgot to mention that you can take Archer to the school district when he's three.  They can provide speech therapy for him even if he's not a student in their preschool, I believe.  It would still be free, and maybe a bit more reliable?  It's probably a good idea to call the preschool special ed office for your district now, to get an assessment appointment and an IEP.  That way he can start therapy as soon as he's three.

Also, your health insurance might cover private speech therapy.  It's something to look into, if his language doesn't really bounce up with the preschool exposure.  

I was having similar problems until I asked my coordinator if I needed to call our provincial (state) office. No problems since then.

I'm seconding Cassandra.  Your school district has to provide preschool services for Archer.  They will give him a battery of tests and then tell you if he qualifies.  He might just qualify for speech but then again, he might need extra help in other areas too.  They also have to provide transportation to and from school.  Look into it.  I know the preschool program here is great.  My middle son's speech is now completely up to speed and he is doing fine in kindergarten (except for the social area--he has aspergers).  

I hope this all isn't too overwhelming for you.  This is the third time I've had to go through the system, and I've had to take the "oh jeez--not again" approach to keep myself sane.  It is hard to see your baby not doing what he "should" be doing, but what made it worse for me is not knowing what was next.  Sometimes kids just need that extra push, and the earlier they get that push, the better off they are going to be.  

My son has been in speech therapy in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles for almost 2 1/2 years (he has a seizure disorder and stopped talking completely just before his second birthday and had to re-learn).  He is doing wonderfully now and continues to receive therapy to prepare him for kindergarten.  He started under the budget of the Regional Center and now that he's over 3, he falls under the school district's budget.  I am happy to say that if I ever had any concerns or frustrations with any of his therapists, my case manager at Regional Center or IEP coordinator at LAUSD has always stepped up to get it resolved immediately - it's their job.  I'm sorry but if you were paying out of your pocket for speech therapy weekly then you are crazy to do so.  If your child was under the state budget, then you should have ranted and raved to Regional Center and I know that you would either receive a new therapist or the canceling would have stopped.  These centers can't afford to loose their Regional Center clients.  

Right on Cassandra!  You should definitely contact your local school district to have your son evaluated the minute he turns 3. You should also write a letter stating that you want him to be tested. By law, they (the school district) have to test, evaluate and have an IEP within 60 days of the date of your letter.

Hi there,

  I am wondering how much one should pay for speech and language therapy per hour?

Thanks!

Have you had his hearing checked?  If he is prone to ear infections he may have trouble.  That said, it may just be his personality.  Some people are observers.  It is how they learn and they make friends accordingly.  Sometimes the most gregarious kids have the least actual friends.

On the speech therapy thing-don't give up!  It may mean having to pay but it may not take long to catch him up.  BTW we pay $108 for one hour a week in Marin County.  My kids issues are auditory processing (not hearing) but a good therapist can help with everything.

Good luck!

I'm a proud auntie of a great little guy who's surfing somewhere in the autism spectrum. Your guy sounds like he's got similar issues to my nephew - about a year and half delay in language, needing some speech therapy, about preschool age... My nephew received speech therapy once a week through the child development centre here in Vancouver, but we found what really helped him was going to his preschool - they increased him to 4 days a week - he goes to a preschool which is experienced at dealing with kids with special needs, but it's fully integrated... so he gets lots of exposure to other kids, and his teachers tell us that he talks and sings all the time at school. I think that ultimately, preschool and kindergarten are like a group speech therapy - as long as the teacher is flexible to offer learning opportunities to everyone.

I'm not saying it will cure everything but there is a company called LearningRx. I know they have some in California I just don't remember where exactly. I work for the franchise in Oklahoma. and although we don't work specifically with speech I can tell you after 4 years doing this job I've seen AMAZING results. It will be out of pocket but from my unbiased work experience, totally worth it.

Again, they are franchises so the cost may be different in California from what it is in Oklahoma. Check em out, when you have time, congrats on the baby, I'm going to have my first on May 8th, c-section, she's breech.

I have dealt with SO MANY incompetent speech therapists...

The first memorable one was an Indian lady with a very thick accent and bad manners.  (I have no problem with people from other countries but I don't feel they should be trying to teach my kids to speak English when I can barely understand them myself).  When discussing progress (or lack there of), she only spoke to my sister who was home at the time, ignoring me altogether.

After my son turned 3, I started taking him to this "great" therapy place.  (My son is nonverbal, has cp and is visually impaired).  At the eval, I asked what strategies she would use to get him to communicate.  She said pecs, signing and verbal talking--I thought great.  She didn't use pictures and when she did sign she did it a couple of feet away there's no way Jacob would have seen it.  Then I tried a different therapy place, and after waiting 6 months on a waiting list we got an older therapist and was optimistic.  Unfortunately, she just bounced him on her knee and sang songs.....

It's definately hard to find a good speech therapist.