Looking for a good child psychologist or speach therapist

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new_to_irvine_IHB

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My 3 year old is not talking in school and I get incresingly worried about it. Even though many people I talk to tell me it's age appropriate I still think it's going on for too long.

Does any of you know a good child psychologist or speach therapist or anybody else who might help and explain this situation. It's been going on for about 7 months. Maybe somebody in this forum experienced something similar with their kids - please write me about it if possible.

P.S. My daughter is still English learner and it obviously complicates things.
 
new_to_irvine said:
My 3 year old is not talking in school and I get incresingly worried about it. Even though many people I talk to tell me it's age appropriate I still think it's going on for too long.

Does any of you know a good child psychologist or speach therapist or anybody else who might help and explain this situation. It's been going on for about 7 months. Maybe somebody in this forum experienced something similar with their kids - please write me about it if possible.

P.S. My daughter is still English learner and it obviously complicates things.
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Contact the school district immediately and she will be tested at their expense. If it is deemed that she qualifies for speech therapy, it will be provided, free of cost. Generally, the speech therapists working for the school district are either as good or better than those you will find privately. Private speech therapy can run up to $180 an hour. Use the district resources, they are plentiful.
 
Dear Tmare,

Thank you for your quick reply.

My daughter is 3 1/2 years old and is not school age yet. She attends private daycare. Do you think she will be able to get help from school district?
 
Thank you!

I jsut contacted IUSD office and was reffered to speach pathologist in our home school area. We might not be able to see her until start of school year but it should be OK. I would never think to turn to school district for these issues!
 
new_to_irvine:

I am going through this situation currently with my 3 yr old son. I have learned that if they are under three, they are eligible for free therapy at state-funded, county regional centers. If they are over three, it is provided for free through the school district, as tmare pointed out. I will just tell you my experience so far. I first contacted the IUSD Early Childhood Learning Center (upon advice from a friend who is a speech pathologist at a different school district.) The put me in touch with somebody at our school of residency. This person was difficult to get ahold of.... would never answer the phone. The receptionist told me there is a wait of like six weeks to be seen for an evaluation. I learned from my friend that by law they must get you in within 15 days (I believe.) This is Step 1 to getting into the system. I learned they are busy department and after evaluation it is another period of waiting before getting therapy -- which is group therapy, not private. I decided to investigate another route as I wanted to try private therapy first and hopefully expedite everything. (The cost is not a concern because we have a PPO.) I contacted CHOC Hospital and received an evaluation there. We just did that last week. However... being a hospital... they must triage their patients and those with the most pressing needs go first. I don't know about your child, but mine does not have a more serious condition such as Downs, CP, etc... so we are looking at a 3-6 month wait for therapy. No matter which way you go - you won't know if you need to see a child psychologist, though, until after you have an evaluation with a speech pathologist and then they can make that recommendation if need be or they will first refer you for a developmental evaluation before determining if you need a psychologist. At CHOC they told us there are number of outside therapy services they could refer us to but they also have long waits. It's just a long wait wherever you go, it seems. It is too bad. In the meantime, I am just doing as much as I can at home because I'm not going to wait idly by. (I look for info online, parenting boards, and also the pathologist is sending us some more info.)

Good luck and let me know if I can be of any help.
 
I know it is frustrating to wait for help. I do have a name of a paraprofessional if you are interested, she works for herself and is 1/6 the price of Providence Speech and Hearing (which sucks). SoCal, I'm sure you are already aware of this but I'd like to reiterate it anyway. Second children often speak later than first children, PARTICULARLY boys. I have two friends whose children are both 2nd boys and they both received speech therapy through the county at two, by three they went to the school district but no longer qualified because they had caught up to their peers. I don't know for sure if they would have caught up without the speech therapy, but I actually believe they would have.

A good book: Becoming Verbal with Childhood Apraxia by Pam Marshalla
 
tmare said:
I know it is frustrating to wait for help. I do have a name of a paraprofessional if you are interested, she works for herself and is 1/6 the price of Providence Speech and Hearing (which sucks). SoCal, I'm sure you are already aware of this but I'd like to reiterate it anyway. Second children often speak later than first children, PARTICULARLY boys. I have two friends whose children are both 2nd boys and they both received speech therapy through the county at two, by three they went to the school district but no longer qualified because they had caught up to their peers. I don't know for sure if they would have caught up without the speech therapy, but I actually believe they would have.

A good book: Becoming Verbal with Childhood Apraxia by Pam Marshalla
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That's the one! Providence Speech and Hearing... that is one they may refer us to. Right there next to CHOC.

Well, I don't mean to derail the original poster here... but yeah, I'm not too freaked out about it because this is our second time around with it. My first boy also had the same thing, albeit to a lesser degree. However, my little one is displaying a couple signs that the pathologist thinks might indicate autism. I feel really in-tune with him, though, and very honestly, my gut feeling is that everything is o.k. I've had mommy friends with autistic kids who felt the opposite - their gut told them something was not right and they were the first to alert the pediatrician. I've looked for that and I just don't sense that. Maybe it's because I've been through this before and seen how everything has turned out with my first (he's on track now) so it is d?j? vu for me. But those signs are one of the reasons we will continue to go in search of therapy. We shall see. It's funny - since our evaluation, he's learned three new words and two new phrases. My oldest's period of silence resulted in a very rapid talking explosion, so I wouldn't be surprised if that happened this time too.

I'd be happy to take your recommendation if you want to PM me. Thanks!

(Let's see... I think I've officially shared everything with this blog now... my faith, my personal finances, my love life, and now my child's speech delay. Yep, I'm officially an open book. So much for anonymity!!!) :lol:
 
SoCal78 said:
new_to_irvine:

I am going through this situation currently with my 3 yr old son. I have learned that if they are under three, they are eligible for free therapy at state-funded, county regional centers. If they are over three, it is provided for free through the school district, as tmare pointed out. I will just tell you my experience so far. I first contacted the IUSD Early Childhood Learning Center (upon advice from a friend who is a speech pathologist at a different school district.) The put me in touch with somebody at our school of residency. This person was difficult to get ahold of.... would never answer the phone. The receptionist told me there is a wait of like six weeks to be seen for an evaluation. I learned from my friend that by law they must get you in within 15 days (I believe.) This is Step 1 to getting into the system. I learned they are busy department and after evaluation it is another period of waiting before getting therapy -- which is group therapy, not private. I decided to investigate another route as I wanted to try private therapy first and hopefully expedite everything. (The cost is not a concern because we have a PPO.) I contacted CHOC Hospital and received an evaluation there. We just did that last week. However... being a hospital... they must triage their patients and those with the most pressing needs go first. I don't know about your child, but mine does not have a more serious condition such as Downs, CP, etc... so we are looking at a 3-6 month wait for therapy. No matter which way you go - you won't know if you need to see a child psychologist, though, until after you have an evaluation with a speech pathologist and then they can make that recommendation if need be or they will first refer you for a developmental evaluation before determining if you need a psychologist. At CHOC they told us there are number of outside therapy services they could refer us to but they also have long waits. It's just a long wait wherever you go, it seems. It is too bad. In the meantime, I am just doing as much as I can at home because I'm not going to wait idly by. (I look for info online, parenting boards, and also the pathologist is sending us some more info.)

Good luck and let me know if I can be of any help.
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Thank you for sharing your story.

May I aks for a referral to the specialists you saw and liked? My biggest problem to find a right specialist who knows what they are doing. I have a feeling that we need a psychologist, not speach pathalogist. My daughter has been talking since 18 months and is fully verbal at home and with her friends, albeit in Russian. She is very shy and self-conscious when it comes to speaking English and it looks that she is fully aware that her English is not the same as of her peers and she prefers to stay quiet. At first I thought it will pass and she will learn it quickly like most of the kids do. It did not happen and it's been 7 months since she is not talking in school. There is a condition called selective mutism when the child experiences some form of anxiety in certain situations and that blocks their speach. It's easily treated in the early stages, but gets more difficult later on.

On the other hand, there is a chance that a good, patient speach therapist who will work with her will help her learn English faster and concure her fear of it. I wihs I could help her but it jsut does not work this way.
 
new_to_irvine said:
Thank you for sharing your story.

May I aks for a referral to the specialists you saw and liked? My biggest problem to find a right specialist who knows what they are doing. I have a feeling that we need a psychologist, not speach pathalogist. My daughter has been talking since 18 months and is fully verbal at home and with her friends, albeit in Russian. She is very shy and self-conscious when it comes to speaking English and it looks that she is fully aware that her English is not the same as of her peers and she prefers to stay quiet. At first I thought it will pass and she will learn it quickly like most of the kids do. It did not happen and it's been 7 months since she is not talking in school. There is a condition called selective mutism when the child experiences some form of anxiety in certain situations and that blocks their speach. It's easily treated in the early stages, but gets more difficult later on.

On the other hand, there is a chance that a good, patient speach therapist who will work with her will help her learn English faster and concure her fear of it. I wihs I could help her but it jsut does not work this way.
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Okay, I totally misunderstood! When you said she's not speaking at school, I wrongly assumed you meant she's not speaking at all! My mistake. Forget everything I said, then! haha

Sorry, I can't give any recommendations to specialists since we have not yet undergone therapy, just evaluations.

If I were in your shoes, I think I would first speak with your child's teacher at the preschool and devise a plan to incorporate your child more. We are native English-speakers but my first son was also shy at the onset of preschool. We talked to the director at the school about this and they found ways to bring him out of his shell. If that doesn't work, you could always seek out advice from a pediatrician. I don't know -- good luck!
 
Just my 2 cents

1.How is she with social skills like inviting peers to play ,engaging them ,taking turns while playing and using imaginative play skills?You can try these with other kids who also speak your native language.

2.Sometimes with all other kids speaking english your child may be feeling left out and feel overwhelmed .You can start playdate with just one kid with whom she have something in common.

3.Try and search psychologist within your health insurance network to seek help .Psychologist out of network could be charging as much as $200 -$250/hour and evaluation can be 3-4K if paying out of pocket.

4.Google for esl sites .There are lots of them with printable games and flashcards to build vocabulary .I think I saw a picture dictionary website that could be age appropriate for your kid.

Movies and cartoons and books are also good help.
 
She is very shy and self-conscious when it comes to speaking English and it looks that she is fully aware that her English is not the same as of her peers and she prefers to stay quiet. At first I thought it will pass and she will learn it quickly like most of the kids do. It did not happen and it?s been 7 months since she is not talking in school.
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Do you normally speak Russian or English in the house?

My wife is a school psychologist in LBSD. PM me if you would like for her to give you a call.
 
irvinewestpark said:
Just my 2 cents

1.How is she with social skills like inviting peers to play ,engaging them ,taking turns while playing and using imaginative play skills?You can try these with other kids who also speak your native language.

2.Sometimes with all other kids speaking english your child may be feeling left out and feel overwhelmed .You can start playdate with just one kid with whom she have something in common.

3.Try and search psychologist within your health insurance network to seek help .Psychologist out of network could be charging as much as $200 -$250/hour and evaluation can be 3-4K if paying out of pocket.

4.Google for esl sites .There are lots of them with printable games and flashcards to build vocabulary .I think I saw a picture dictionary website that could be age appropriate for your kid.

Movies and cartoons and books are also good help.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your suggestions - these are good ones.

It's been a few weeks since I psoted and things changed a little bit. I overheard my daughter talking to her English speaking friend and realized that her Englsih impoved a lot. Now she builds sentences and speaks in much clearer English. She still doesnot speak in school and wehn I asked her aboit it she said she did not want the teachers and other kids to exclaim " Look, she is speaking now!"

It's clearly some kind of form of anxiety she needs to overcome. We just met with psychologist yesterday and the plan is the psychologist will work with her in school, not at home or her office. We ended up choosing our of network psychologist because all the "in-network" ones are seemingly very busy even to return my phone call.

Other than that she is developmentally appropriate in all other aspects.
 
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