Speech Therapy in Schools? (Phoenix, Apache Junction: insurance, neighborhood, school district)

[ShanMan72]

I have a 3 year old that has as a speech delay. In Wisconsin the public schools offer assistance with speech therapy until school age and it's funded by the state. I was curious if there was anything similar in the Phoenix area?

[AZgarden]

In AZ we have AZeip. Arizona Early Intervention program from birth to 3. At age 3 the school district does an evaluation of the child and determines if they are eligible for pre school services. If so, they can attend in the regular school district and get therapy in the school. They need to qualify in 2 areas and your child probably would if the delay is significant. Therapy is provided in a group/ class situation, not 1 on 1. Hope this helps.

[sassieb75]

How does one get in touch with these evaluators? Who do we contact? Would one just go to their pediatrician?

[WantingoutofAz]

Originally Posted by sassieb75

How does one get in touch with these evaluators? Who do we contact? Would one just go to their pediatrician?

I did this when my two oldest were 3 because they were preemies and had some minor delays. I just contacted the elementary school in our neighborhood and told them that I was worried about developmental delays and speech delays in my boys. I actually said I wanted to get them evaluated and they asked me what my concerns were. They told me a day and time and the school to take them to. We went there and they tested them in a whole bunch of different areas including speech, fine motor, gross motor and their hearing. They didn't end up qualifying but if they had then they could have gone to the preschool at the public school for free and I believe gotten services including speech and PT. Since they didn't qualify, don't quote me on this. I can't remember who I asked for at the school when I called. Hope this helps.

[AZgarden]

If the child is under 36 months, go to the Arizona Early Intervention Program, on the internet. If the child is already 3, call your local school and ask for a preschool evaluation. Its the law. They cannot turn you down.

[az4good]

We use Pediatric Speech & Language Specialists. When my son was 2 1/2 I tried to go through the early intervention programs, but they told me they were ending the service and I really got the run around. This was 4 years ago so things have changed.

With private services once we met our deductible we now pay about $4 a session. So depending on your insurance that could be an option as well.

[Friend of Sonic]

Well, I'm not too much help with specifics, but when I was growing up in Apache Junction (AZ) I was in a speech therapy program at the elementary school until the middle of second grade. Really helped me out, and it let me get some time out of class.