If my toddler gets speech therapy through the school district, will she be labeled special needs?

Question

My daughter is 2 1/2, and is having some trouble with the clarity of her words. Her vocabulary and understanding is extensive, but she forms many words wrong and is very hard to understand sometimes. My aunt, who has been a special ed teacher for years, suggested we get a speech evaluation to see if she needs speech therapy. So we set up an appointment through the school district's early learning department. But now I am worried that if she gets speech therapy, she will be labeled as special needs. I have heard horror stories about children being "labeled", and I do not want this for her as she is a very sharp kid, and I know that she will be fine. Anyone know if she will be labeled special needs if she gets speech therapy?

Thank you for your responses! Her hearing is perfectly fine, so that is not an issue. She understands well and forms 5-10 word sentences, but when she starts to talk really fast she loses intelligibility. She tends to omit the ends of words and even mixes up vowel sounds sometimes. I definitely want help if she needs it, but I don't want it to be more trouble than it is worth.

Answer 1

She won't.

Being 2 1/2, she probably won't start out getting speech therapy through the local school, it will probably be through ECI (that's how it is here, anyway, school therapy starts at three).

They realize that kids in speech therapy that young are not "special needs", and getting the speech therapy through them will not mean she will be put along with the kids who are "slow" when she starts kindergarten.

For the time being, you'll be working with the special education department, because that's the department that administers testing and therapy, but even if she still needs the speech therapy into elementary school, she'll be in a regular class and do the therapy during a part of the day when she won't be missing regular classtime, like a recess, or naptime, or something like that.

If you're worried about this, and even if you're not, be frank with the person doing the testing, and with anyone who works with your daughter along the way. Tell them that you're worried about this. Most likely, they will be able to calm your fears about this (really and truly, the horror stories are very very few and far between), and if not, you can be pushing for your daughter to be seen as she really is: a regular, bright little girl whose only "special need" is some help with her speech.

It's people who are complacent and don't fight for their children who get the kids who are labelled for some stupid reason when they're three or five years old.

Answer 2

To the speech pathologist that answered: How can you say 2 is too young and no one would work with her?! Isn't the point of doing it now so we can jump these hurdles BEFORE school?!?!

Anyway...At 2.5 her articulation isn't that important. Sometimes it's really hard to get a child into special ed. And if your daughter does qualify for speech, great. She will get what she needs now. In NY the school district picks up kids aged 3 that school year for services as needs. So if your daughter would start school in 2009, she would be in the school district. If she wouldn't start until 2010 or later, she would be evaluated through early intervention. If she's school aged, have her evaluated, if she's EI aged, don't bother because EI doen't care about articulation at all, the measure word associations.

If she's evaluated and approved by the school district, she wouldn't get placement (unless there are other issues), she would have a speech therapist come to her. They will go to your home, her daycare, or anywhere that works for you. If she is up to speed like you say, chances are she will test out easily before school starts.

I think anything different from the norm is considered special needs, but you shouldn't listen to the horror stories you've heard. You probably have stories from people or parents with older children from when is was bad to have a labeled child. Needing speech therapy is not a big deal, especially for articulation.

Have you had her hearing and ears offically checked? She may seem to hear fine, but many times children with expressive delays or problems with articulation may have a small amount of constant fluid in their ears, making sounds a little different. With tubes, usually there is break through with language, because now everything sounds right and can be repeated right. Be sure to look into this if you're afraid of the speech therapy and possibility of a label.

**I want to add that my son has some serious problems that should be addressed in a self contained, full day preschool class. He's been kicked out of numerous daycares, is severly speech delayed, and has autistic characteristics (that should be diagnosed in a few weeks), and he only qualified for an inclusion 1/2 day class with speech 2 times per week for 30 minutes. His class has 18 children, a self contained would have a lot less children, and more aides. I had to fight for the little we did get. My daughter has some obvious issues, again autism (aspergers- getting the final report in a few days) and her school still isn't giving her anything, even though she has problems in gym, and lunch everyday, goes to the nurse for quiet time at least 3x per week, and obviously can't socialize like a typical child.

Answer 3

No, she won't. If she qualifies for speech therapy through the school system, she'll be on an IEP, which falls under the realm of special ed/special needs. I have a four year old that has autism, so here is what I have found.

For the preschool years - kids won't notice any differences. My son's speech is delayed, plus he has sensory issues, but in his preschool the other kids play with him just fine. People are pretty open about their kids IEP's, and its very acceptable. He gets pulled out for speech, OT and PT.

Now - once you hit elementary school, I will admit things change a bit. I have another son that is going into the first grade. I found even as young as kindergarten, the kids did start to notice kids with *significant* differences - i.e. kids with more severe autism, etc. Also, parents are more closed lipped about their kids being on IEP's. I do have a good friend who's daughter is very high functioning autism, and she did complain her daughter was "labeled" as special needs and not every parent wants to do a playdate with them as a result. So I can see where you are nervous. BUT, with that said, I can assure you for simple speech issues, receiving speech therapy at school is not a big deal. Literally about 85% of my son's kindergarten class received speech therapy services. The kids are pulled out for it, and either the other kids don't even notice, or as they get older they are envious that these kids get "special treatment" and get time out of class. Its seen as a cool thing really. As for the parents, there is no need to advertise your daughter is on an IEP, but if they know it won't affect your daughter's social life. I find its only an issue if the child has major social impairments, etc. You will be shocked how many kids receive speech therapy.

Anyways, bottom line, have your daughter evaluated ASAP, because if she requires therapy, the sooner she starts, this may not even be an issue as she may not even need it by the time she hits kindergarten, she's so young still.

I wish you the best of luck!!

Answer 4

Not necessarily. Especially at this point, it's more important for you to see if she needs the intervention and help they can offer. My daughter is a very bright 7 year old, going into second grade, but she has an IEP because she needs speech therapy. The teachers do not consider her as "special needs" and they expect a lot out of her because she is very capable, and even advanced in some areas, like reading, she just needs a little extra help with forming certain sounds. It's truly better to get them the help they need than to let them fall through the cracks, and some problems can be corrected quite quickly. Usually the school will do a yearly evaluation and decide if the services need to be continued, and that's also your chance to put your input in, you can halt the services at any time.

Answer 5

As a teacher myself, I believe that 2 1/2 is too early for speech therapy. You should wait until Kindergarten and if there is still a problem, speak to the teacher about it. Speech therapy is not a special needs category. I have a 2 1/2 year old son and while he can pronounce most words with clarity and speak two word sentences, he does have trouble with some other words. For instance, his sister's name is Sarah, but he usually calls her Saza. Good luck and don't worry too much. She has plenty of time to develop her speech before kindergarten. Just be sure when she does speak incorrectly to repeat what she says, but pronounce it the correct way.

Answer 6

I myself underwent speech therapy when first starting school. After about a year I was released from the program. Since then I have graduated at the top of my class in high school and college and will be starting law school in one year. Do not let anyone label her as special needs. Just make sure she gets caught up to where she needs to be and everything should be fine. Society wants to label people all the time. It is really up to you whether or not she is labeled. If there is another underlying problem the story may be different in the future... but don't let anyone label a 2 1/2 yr old child when the future is so cloudy. Besides... you said it yourself. She's a sharp kid.

Answer 7

The only way to qualify for speech services is to be labeled as special needs. Special needs is a wide umbrella that encompasses disabilities from moderate articulation delays to mentally handicapped and everything in between. The purpose of qualifying a child for a special program, like speech therapy, is to access early intervention speech therapy. As a pre K special education teacher, I have seen many, many children come into our public school based program at age 3, and by the time they are entering Kindergarten, have progressed enough to be dismissed from special ed. A speech impairment is the least of all the disabilities served in special education. It is not reflective of your child's cognitive ability, and will not preclude your child from entering a general education class in Kindergarten. Wouldn't it be better to address her articulation delays now, rather than wait until the gap widens and she is even more delayed at age 5?

Answer 8

Hey.....

I just like to let u know that I am a teenager in a Public School and although I didn't need speech therpy, I have dyslexia and also have several other learning disabilties and I wans't labeled at all....I actually come from a Private Chrsitian school where they labeled me as dumb and violent but when I went to the Public School System they didn't label me and my principal acutally put me ahead of the waiting list to get tested and to get help for me. So I am POSTIVE that she will do fine and although she will be put under a SN list and have an IEP (Independent Education Plan) she will be succseful and be able to do anything she wants to do.


I hope this helps and good Luck.

Answer 9

It really depends on the school, but you have to ask yourself which is worse in the long run... her having to deal with her speech issue for the rest of her life or being "labelled" as needing help for a real problem while in school. Many parents can help prevent "horror stories" by staying on top of the school and making sure their child is treated fairly and is not "labelled" incorrectly as they progress through the system. Please note that many of the terrible "horror stories" that one hears about happened many, many years ago. This does not mean things do not happen today, just not as much as say 15-20 years ago. There is no shame in getting help when help is needed and getting assistance in school from any specialist (from a math tutor to speech therapist, etc) is NOT looked at as negative by any intelligent person. Long gone are the days when "special needs" could be interrupted to mean "slow" or "backwards".

Good Luck.

Answer 10

My wife was a teacher and had many children with speech problems over the years. Her advice: Get her help now while she is still at the formative age for speech. She will not be labeled. Many children have speech problems when they are young that easily go away with some help. If you don't get help now there is a bigger chance she will be labeled as an older child should have clearer speech. The speech problems that are just tongue thrust or a "lisp" usually have no connection to intelligence. Also, check her hearing. Good luck.