Frederick Said:

When should a child start saying the letter R correctly?

We Answered:

I would make an appointment with a speech therapist b/c early intervention is best if he does have a speech problem. It's not terribly uncommon for 5 year olds to still talk like that a little, but if it's so bad that it's difficult to understand him at times, he may need some help.

Valerie Said:

toddlers involved with the birth to 3 therapy program?

We Answered:

My daughter has Cystic Fibrosis...which does not affect anything having to do with learning, her brain, her looks, her developement and so on....but it does make her run the risk of falling behind because of the high chances of her being sick a lot. or being hospitalized a lot. She has been involved in therapy since she was an infant and I really like it. Someone comes in once a week for an hour. That is all my girl needs at this point. She is a tad behind in her speech so that is what we work on. If there is a need the therapist comes more or less often...all depends on the child. This is a great program and is covered by our insurance. Hope this helps.

Donna Said:

Headstart program for speech?

We Answered:

Head Start is federally funded, targeting primarily low income families, however over-income families are sometimes accepted based on certain criteria including special needs. I would encourage you to locate a program in your area by searching "head start your city Colorado". Here's a link that will give you more general info if you want to know more about the program: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/ There is a search feature on this web site that can also help you locate the programs in your area. Please look into it. Head Start often has excellent classrooms and tremendously benefits enrolled families. I am a Head Start teacher, and I'm sure if you look you will find some Head Start classes near you. Head Start accepts children from age 3 to age 5, but there is also an Early Head Start program for younger children. Good luck in your search! If you have any other questions, feel free to email me.

Clayton Said:

Does a school need parent’s consent for speech therapy?

We Answered:

My daughter was in speech therapy last year. She had an IEP (Individual Education Plan) that required me to meet with her teacher, her speech therapist, and some other people and go over goals for her. It was my decision whether she received the speech therapy or not. If i didn't want her to, i would have just signed a form saying that i didn't feel she needed it.

Armando Said:

Which program is harder.....OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY or SPEECH PATHOLOGY??-?

We Answered:

Occupational Therapy is about Basket Weaving, just a step above an undergrad Major in Communications.

Calvin Said:

Is the Rosetta Stone a good program for a person with a speech disability?

We Answered:

This is an interesting question. I don't have a real answer for you, but I'll speculate a little bit.

I'm using Rosetta Stone now to learn a foreign language, and I think it's a fantastic program for that purpose. I'm doubtful of how successful it would be if used as speech therapy.

You can adjust the level of pronunciation accuracy required. For example, I'm mostly interested in learning how to read and write in the language I'm learning, and not so much in speaking. So I've turned the pronunciation accuracy way down. It still beeps at me when I say something very wrong, but if I come close, it lets me slide through.

The problem I think you might run into is that the program doesn't really HELP your pronunciation directly. You hear a voice, and you echo back what it said. If it's not pronounced well enough, you try again. And again. There's a way to look at a sort of "graph" of your speech pattern compared to the speech pattern of the model speaker, but you're on your own for figuring out how to change your graph while speaking. I haven't found that feature of the program to be terribly helpful.

All in all, while I think this is a great language-learning program, I have doubts about how successfully you'd be able to use it for what you want. And most unfortunately, I don't have any better suggestions to offer!

I hope this helps, but more importantly, I hope you get an answer that helps more!