I've been noticing that my 3 year old is having some speech difficulties, specifically with his "s", "l", "g" and "t". I was planning on having him start preschool in the fall but I'm wondering if I should get his speech assesed first. If anyone had issues with their child's speech how did you go about getting him/her assesed?

The way it worked with my child is that at his 3 year well check, I talked about it with his pediatrician. She gave me the info on how to set up an assessment. I could go through the school system (minimum 3 month wait in my area, but free) or through our private insurance and the local Children's Hospital. We opted to go through our insurance, and the Children's Hospital because we really didn't want to wait 3 months and the info I got from other Moms that I knew, the system was really overworked. We got him assessed and they told me that he really was doing fine, but that he was delayed on a few things and it was up to us to decide if we want to put him in weekly therapy - which we did.

In retrospect, for him, I think he would have been fine either way. I don't regret doing it necessarily, and obviously the therapy sessions didn't hurt him, I'm just not really convinced that if he didn't go to therapy, that he wouldn't have been just fine. Obviously there is a very wide range of abilities and speech issues, so you just have to do what works for you! My son enjoyed the speech sessions, we had a great young gal that played a lot of games with him etc We had a standing appt that worked great for us each week, the facility was awesome, our insurance covered it completely...so it was a positive experience.

also i would suggest not assuming your child has speech issues many kids sound certain letters strange its a natural part of learning. at that age they are learning so many things sometimes things get jumbled.. i would speak to my pediatrican about it.

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I don't think you should delay preschool either way. Being with other kids will only help his language skills. Check with the early education area in your school district to see what resources are available or with your doctor.

two of mine have had speech therapy, we did an assessment at our children's hospital. In some states, you can get one for free through your school district, but it will take longer.

Definately don't delay preschool. It's really good to have the child around other kids and a good preschool teacher will help work with your child on their sounds. In the 3's they usually focus a lot on letters and sounds, this will be incredibly helpful.

If you child doesn't qualify for therapy, be certain to ask the evaluating therapist for a home program. My child in therapy now also gets sheets for us to work on at home and it is amazing how quickly the one on one time makes a difference.

You are your child's best advocate - keep pushing to get what they need. Good luck!

I say start him in preschool and see what the teacher says. One of the best resources for your questions is a competent preschool teacher. Since they listen to preschoolers all day long, they will recognize if he is having speech issues. You may be overly concerned or he may actually have more issues than you hear since you talk to him all the time and understand him best. If the teacher cannot understand him or notices a problem, she will let you know and point you in the right direction for what to do (visit to ped, referral to speech, possible therapy or suggestions for what to do at home) I agree with other posters that speech therapy at this age is fun and he will not mind going through the testing or lessons, they are all games. So, it's not going to make him feel bad if he is referred, just make it another 'school' he gets to attend, what a lucky guy!

Two of my children have had speech. We always called the school and had assessments done right away. My 8 yr old graduated from speech last fall (he had been in it since he was 4. My 5 yr olds speech journey is just beginning.

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