Let's talk about - Speech Therapy...Next steps

Speech therapy. It is a hot topic among today's parents, with both schools and pediatricians highlighting the need for early intervention of anything that interferes with a child's ability to learn and communicate.

In our last post, we discussed how you might discover whether you should be concerned about your child's speaking ability, as well as some stories from local parents who have addressed those concerns. In this post, we take on the next steps...how to get a proper diagnosis and what speech therapy will look like.

Ashley Miller, an Edmond mom and nationally certified speech-language pathologist who works with children in our area, emphasized, "Early intervention is the absolute key!" She said if you have any concerns about how your child is functioning in four areas - articulation, expressive and/or receptive language, fluency, or voice (see previous post for descriptions) - there are free resources to address concerns.

"For children ages 0-3, SoonerStart evaluations are available free of charge through state and federal funding. SoonerStart evaluations include assessment across all areas of functioning. For children ages 3-21, your local school district is responsible for assisting families with concerns." Miller recommends that you contact your local school building or district’s ChildFind office to talk to someone about screenings and/or evaluations. She also says discussing these concerns with your pediatrician is important. She encouraged those looking for more information regarding typical development and identification of communication disorders to visit identifythesigns.org.

For Edmond mom Julie Butler, the process was pretty straightforward. "Our pediatrician recommended the place where we are. I called them and set up an evaluation. It lasted an hour and the therapist spoke with me afterwards about the findings and her recommendations." At that point, the Butlers and the therapist set goals that are reviewed every 6 months and adjusted accordingly.

For Jessica Toman, a mom of two young children who take speech therapy at Can Do Kids in Edmond, the process was a little more complicated. "For my daughter we learned that the school system would test her, but not until she was 3. Three was the magic age where we could get a hearing test at the doctor also." She mentioned that some libraries set up testing dates during the summer, but they were out of town at the time. Toman did have her daughter tested that fall at the 3-year mark, and the doctor referred them to Can Do Kids. "We have had a wonderful experience there...my daughter and son were given an hour-long test to determine their needs, and next a request was made to the insurance company to say speech would benefit my child." A plan was set up and Toman's daughter went a year for two weekly appointments, which has since dropped down to once a week.

For both mothers, speech therapy has been an interesting experience, one that has challenged their expectations of the process. According to Butler--

"Since my daughter's issues were not as much speech related as language related, I wasn't sure what good 'speech' would do her. But I have very been surprised at what they cover and work on. She is given gym time to help her socialization skills and they incorporate technology and play to help her achieve her set goals. The therapist always visits with me after a session to tell me what they worked on and how my daughter did. I ask questions on how we can work on things at home and tell her what issues we are seeing that we would like addressed."

Toman has also been pleasantly surprised. "I went to speech a couple years during grade school.  It was a little different than my experience. They [the kids] are younger and don’t just go over flash cards. They utilize a small gym, play games, use the iPad, and other activities to involve the kids in communication and pronunciation."

Stay tuned next week as we discuss speech therapy expectations and outcomes!

Food allergies...what's ahead

Over the past few weeks, I've been sharing information from other Edmond parents about their experiences with handling their children's food allergies. What I heard time and again was that parents are doing the best they can, but all wish (and hope) the food allergy would go away for their children.

The parents didn't complain about extra work or inconveniences to them. No, none of them minded caring for a child with a food allergy and ensuring his or her safety. The frustration with food allergies comes from the stigma parents believe it creates for their child.

Because of this, several parents were looking toward strides made in food allergy research. Carly Harris, an Edmond mom with a young son suffering from milk, egg, and peanut allergies, hopes her son will outgrow his allergies (and there's hope that he might, at least for the milk and egg allergies). However, she also anticipates strides in food allergy research may lead to better treatment. "I have heard that there is a program offered by local allergy doctors where they can challenge the allergens and eventually make the children build up a tolerance to the foods," Harris says. "I am very hopeful to look into this."

And her hopes are not off base. Dr. Tim Trojan of the Oklahoma Institute of Allergy and Asthma says that treatment has become available (as well as more accepted) that exposes children to small amounts of the allergen, creating a tolerance to it over time. "This may be a treatment to pursue," says Dr. Trojan, "if the allergy is creating a very negative impact on a person's quality of life."

However, he warns, having an "EpiPen" (epinephrine) on hand is imperative, as those who have been exposed to any allergen are at greater risk for an allergic reaction (see symptoms here).

News about research on food allergy treatment can be found on the website for Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). Currently, the only method known for preventing a reaction is avoiding the food to which the child is allergic. The organization's treatment page also lists medications used for treating reactions. The treatment Harris mentioned, immunotherapy (also known as "allergy shots"), is experimental at the moment, but it has been known to be effective. More information can be found on the website for the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. 

If you are ready to get more aggressive about tackling a food allergy, Dr. Trojan strongly suggests getting a recommendation for a board certified allergist from your child's pediatrician (you can also search for one here). A doctor who specializes in food allergies should be up to date on what treatments are available and also what is appropriate for your child.

Well, that's all for this week. Check back next week when we take a lighter approach to food allergies and post some links to recipes that tackle cooking with missing ingredients!