Need recommendations for good SLP for undiagnosed apraxic three-year old

July 2, 2009

Hello everyone,

Please help me with the following 3 items.

1)

I live in the south Bay Area and need recommendations on finding/screening for

good SLPs and OTs for my 3-year-old son who says only a few words, eats

extremely slowly with very little variety (picky), and has oral motor

difficulties (can't pucker, lick, etc--> Is this called hypotonia???? ).

2)

Also, please give me your feedback on this scenario:

* I have been looking at a therapy company in the south Bay (paying

out-of-pocket).

The only SLP (let's pretend her name is Jane) that the receptionist will let me

book doesn't have any background experience in working with children with

apraxia (only with autism). My son isn't autistic.

Also, the receptionist who does all the scheduling says that i can't book Jane

and a different SLP (I told her I wanted to see how each SLP does therapy with

my son). she said all of the other therapists are " booked " . ...makes me

suspicious because their website shows that other SLPs have experience dealing

with apraxia.

She also said that I cannot book Jane twice per week because she is busy even

though she told me that Jane has 2 openings per week. huh?

3)

In your experience, how long should it take (months) for me to gauge whether an

SLP is being effective in helping my son's speech development? I am afraid of

wasting even more months of ineffective ST for my son.

Must the SLP use a specific treatment or combination methods (PROMPT,

Kaufmann,...) to be worth my time & money.

Should the SLP be using some type of oral manipulation to help my son move his

lips/tongue to produce sounds/words?

If an SLP starts out introducing and showing my son how to use picture exchange

(PECS?) to help alleviate speech frustration, how long (weeks? months) should

she be using that system?

Should I tell her that I don't want that system to go on for months without her

helping him to produce more speech.

ahh...so much to learn.

Thanks.

Recommended Posts