Years of Speech Therapy

If your child has been in speech therapy for months or years and you have not seen the expected progress, address that concern with your speech therapist. There are cases whereby months or years of speech-language therapy is necessary. However, for many clients this is not the case.

As a mother (before I became a speech-language pathologist), I was too scared to leave my son’s first therapist because we were on a waitlist 6 months prior and I didn’t know my options – even though I knew that she was not the right fit for my son’s needs.

After one year with this therapist, she referred my son to another who had more expertise in his specific issue… and we saw magic! Hands-on therapy the first 2 sessions elicited speech sounds he had been attempting the entire first year!

This was the first time I considered the idea of becoming a speech therapist, and it was the first time I held a good opinion about the field of speech therapy. Though my son’s issue was severe, I unwittingly wasted his first year of treatment.

Again, if your child has been in speech therapy for a while and you haven’t seen the progress you were expecting, ask your therapist about it – there may be an explanation. If not, then trust your gut and seek another therapist.

~ Mother first