Eleventeen Hundred Hoops Later
I haven’t blogged about this at all but last month I took my son to an early intervention screening thing for speech. He failed the hearing screen in one ear and was also flagged for a formal speech evaluation.
After jumping through eleventeen hundred hoops that included one trip to the pediatrician, twenty days of antibiotics (for a sinus infection that was causing his eardrum to retract), a formal audiology evaluation that indicated my son is not, in fact, partially deaf, mountains of paperwork and numerous requests for things like birth and medical records, we finally went for the BIG speech eval today.
I don’t need anyone to tell me the child needs some intervention in the way of speech therapy. I also don’t need anyone to tell me that in spite of his sometimes unintelligible speaking, my son is whip smart and has excellent receptive language skills — meaning he understands everything we say — and apparently his vocabulary level is extremely high. He gets that from me ;)
Unfortunately, articulation was the last part of the 3+ hour evaluation and we ran out of time. Without including the articulation score being factored in, he ranks one percentage point above the number in which therapy would be recommended.
This means that even though the speech pathologist can clearly see that he needs help, she is required to go by the numbers. If she decides, based on some criteria I’m not aware of, that taking the articulation part of the eval on another day isn’t necessary and thus doesn’t have a number to factor into the overall score, he will be refused interventional speech therapy BY ONE PERCENTAGE POINT.
After all the BS we had to go through to get there, it hardly seems right to score the kid without completing what I would consider the most critical part of the whole thing.
Quite frankly, the vibe I got is that they systematically refuse anyone who doesn’t have a severe disability. And if that’s the case, then WHY refer him for the eval in the first place? It’s obvious his issues are not severe.
I don’t want to jump the gun and get all pissed off just yet because maybe she WILL call us and ask us back to finish the test, but if she doesn’t? I WILL BE LIVID.
The woman kept asking me what my concerns were and I tried to tell her that my concern is that he will not be able to communicate with his peers or teacher in preschool and that at three years of age, he should be able to have a basic conversation, which he cannot. Is this not a valid concern?
I told her that there is no way he could have attended in the preschool program my daughter was in at 3 yrs. because the ability to communicate was an absolute necessity.
She gave me a bunch of “Yeah, but…”
Yeah but nothing. I know my child and I know, as he is right now, that he isn’t ready for preschool.
But keeping him home? How is that going to help him?
Putting him in a class of two year olds? How is THAT going to help him?
Of course, if we had better insurance or were independently wealthy, I could just take him to a speech pathologist myself and skip all this shite. But we don’t and we’re not.
Mood: IRRITATED
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In other news, I got a bread machine (AKA the best invention ever for people who detest cooking)! I know I’m about a decade late to the party but dude, I’m SO excited! It’s a Cuisinart Convection model and I can’t WAIT to get baking because, IMHO, one can never have too much bread in their diet. MOARRRR CARBS!!!!!!!!
Hello, homemade raisin bread and cheese bread and pizza dough and cinnamon rolls. I can’t wait to eat you up. NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!!!!!
Can I just say I feel your pain?! We are currently hoop jumping to get my son the free in home speech services he needs but I am getting the general idea that his problem is not severe enough for it. On the other hand it is plenty bad enough for the $60 a session speech pathologist to see him twice a week. Thanks to our oh so fabulous insurance that does not cover one cent of it thats $500 a month I need to come up with if I would like my son to talk sometime in the next century.
Rant over, sorry. I just wanted you to know you are not alone=)
I can’t even get insurance.I work at UF, but I’m considered an OPS employee, which means basically I am classified as a temporary employee. So not only can I not get health benefits, but I work at a college and I don’t even get a break on tuition there. Sucks because from what I understand, state employees get decent insurance. Meanwhile, my kids get sick and I have to wait until it’s obvious they aren’t going to just recover on their own before I can take them for that $60 pediatrician office visit to tell me what I already knew and give me a slip of paper for a script I pray I can get for $4 at Wal-mart.
It just sucks. Kids should get universal health care-no matter if they have insurance or can afford it or not, if they need something medically, they should get it.
Oh, no she didn’t. You have every right to demand another full evaluation. If she writes the report without completing it, you call her supervisor.
Kids over 3 qualify for school district services. I’m not sure what district you are in but every one in Washington State has a ChildFind screening program. Many school districts have Speech-centered Developmental Preschool.
If you need more information fell free to email me.
Are you freakin’ kidding me? She had better not complete the report without his full evaluation - you just call her up and tell her she’ll have the entire momblogosphere after her time-strapped ass.
Seriously though, that’s ridiculous. One percentage point? ONE! And they’re going to deny services without even considering the importance of articulation! If they go through with that my opinion will be officially cemented: the system is f’d.
What mamikaze said. That’s my understanding as well, having navigated the system here (both via Child Find and the school district).
I hope you’ll post an update.
You make it twelveteen hundred hoops and do not give up. You may have to make a thousand phone calls but do not give up..you are his mom, you know what needs to be done. Don’t give up.
i agree with others who’ve said go for another eval. my son was borderline, too. on the we don’t cover that side of the border. and we pushed and prodded when we should have shoved and stabbed for another test.
he did eventually get therapy, because what is border line at 3 becomes very grave at 10 and much more difficult to treat.
Be a squeaky wheel for sure!
Just reading this made me itchy and angry for you.
You have my prayers. My son was tested in Kindergarten at his teacher’s recommendation and it was determined that he needed speech therapy. But due to school system budget cuts, it was decided that his was not the most dire need…and he had to wait three years, until he went to the next school in the system.
At that point, they had taken care of the ones that needed it the most and they had the time to spend on my child’s therapy. (Plus, some of the borderline kids had dropped out of the program because they were embarrassed to have to go to Speech during Reading class.) Great that the school’s speech teacher finally had time, except that my son’s bad habits were already formed. It’s a constant battle to correct them. (In part because he is at an age where kids battle about everything no matter what it is!)
I say, fight like heck for the services. My son is smart as a whip (like your son), tests as talented and gifted, and learned some compensation skills on his own. Yours probably will, too — but wouldn’t it be better to have him given the tools at an earlier age?
Oh Izzy I hate when I hear stories like this one. I’m not sure how old P is or which state you are in… but here goes–loyal reader but those facts are not stored in my little brain..but I have other fun facts below:
1. Evaluators can use something known as “Informed Clinical Opinion” they are not restricted to using the numbers only. (from what you have the informed clinical opinion indicates that he needs intervention).
2. You have the right to a FULL evaluation–which evaluates the parent’s chief concerns and they must complete it as part of their 45 day timeline if he is under 3 or 60 day timeline if he is over 3. You can use your due process rights to object because your chief concern–his ability to express himself and be understood by you and others–was not evaluated.
3. You have the right to a second evaluation–write them a letter indicating your concerns (see #2)and requesting a second evaluation paid for BY them (the county if he is under 3, the school district if he is over 3). (N.B. You can always pay for an evaluation and bring it to your meeting–they must consider it, they do not have to follow the recommendations, but they must discuss it and consider it.)
4. If he did not qualify (which from what you say it sounds like with informed clinical opinion he should qualify) they should be giving you some tips and ideas on specific things you and he can do. Also it is important to note that speech delays can be hallmarks of other difficulties, which become more visible once in school, that is why it is imperative to have a full multi-disciplinary (not just speech) evaluation, because the evaluators may identify other areas that need to be addressed, and addressing them before school may lessen their severity and need by the time the child is enrolled in school.
Sorry for the book. Good luck–you can go to http://www.NECTAC.org for the law, a report on informed clinical opinion, and contacts in your state.
homemade bread,mmmm. Homemade bread is my guilty pleasure.
I can’t imagine they can do a report without finishing the test - if they do I will be LIVID along with you.
Bread machines rawk BTW.
I have not commented here in a long time, but I wanted to tell you that if your son is denied speech therapy, there is a a lot you can do on your own at home to help. I won’t write a book here, but as a HS English Teacher/Literacy coach I have had to help many students with speech and I have learned a lot along the way. Please email me if you want more information.
Bureaucrats suck. ONE POINT? Jeez.
Good luck with the bread machine. I got one a few years ago and had about two months of intensive breadmaking before the bloom wore off the yeast, so to speak. It has been gathering dust ever since.
Oh brother, does this sound familiar.
What I ended up doing was cornering my neighbor (a speech therapist), ask her to listen to my middle child talk, and then ask her for some drills I could do at home.
I also had to threaten to leave 30lbs of zucchini on her front porch if she didn’t help me, and that clinched it.
The drills were a big help, but I hope that the full evaluation is done and that - this sounds strange to say - your kid doesn’t pass. Parents know better than the numbers.
Homemade bread - yum!
I wouldn’t wait for her to call - I’d call her first and ask to set up a time to complete the full evaluation. He’s entitled to the full evaluation, not just part of it.
We’re currently trying to find summer services for Cordy in Columbus, and it’s tough. We don’t have the money for expensive services, so we’re at the mercy of the county to help us find providers.
Good luck - you are your son’s best advocate, and sometimes you have to push until they listen.
The Cuisinart Convection bread maker has been our good friend for 1.5 years now. I’d highly recommend the Whole Wheat bread recipe (not the one with barley flour though) but depending on where you live and the level of humidity, be prepared to mess with the amount of flour added and also make vital wheat gluten a requirement. It will help it rise and make it less dense. We make delicious, massive loaves that, when freshly baked, are often eaten in a day. And that’s the 2 pound loaf. You want carbs…
that sucks about the hoop hassles. hang in there mommy :)