5 Reasons To Enroll Your Child in Private Therapy

By: Jennifer Tripoli, M.S., CCC-SLP

A question I am often asked is about working at a private, non-profit pediatric therapy center. What makes us different?! Well some unique qualities that compliment other services! Below are the top five reasons to enroll a child in private therapy (primarily from a speech-language perspective!).

1. Enhancing School Services

Many children have significant issues that require more frequent, intense services in order to progress. Unfortunately, the public school districts are limited by the hours in the school day. Participating in outside therapy services allows for a child to work on similar goals or additional goals.

For some children, the repetition of school goals helps them progress faster and allows them more time to understand concepts. For other children, the school therapist may be working on one area of need where the private therapist is targeting another area of need. We are happy to collaborate with school therapists. I find that this is the best recipe for success!

2. Your child did not qualify for Early Intervention Services (EI)

Currently, the Early Intervention Program for the state of Illinois requires a child (0-3 years of age) to have a 30% or more delay in 1 area of development in order to qualify for services, have a qualifying underling medical diagnosis (e.g. Down Syndrome), or have 3 or more risk factors for delayed development. In many cases, children do not meet the criteria as listed above for services through the Early Intervention system, but still present with developmental delays.

For example, a child may be evaluated for speech and language delay

Photo by: Nancy Kerner

through the early intervention system and only found to have a 20% delay in expressive language. In most cases, a child with a 20% delay would not receive services through EI, but may benefit from private therapy in order to improve their expressive language skills to a more age appropriate level. Just because your child has not qualified for EI does not mean they will catch up to their peers without assistance. A private speech and language evaluation may be warranted to determine if your child would benefit from speech therapy services.

3. Your child has feeding or oral motor issues

Often, feeding and oral motor skills are not addressed in the school system as these skills may not be considered as educationally relevant as other skills. It can also be difficult to find a Speech Pathologist who has experience in working with children with oral motor and feeding deficits. Private speech therapy services can address your child’s feeding and oral motor deficits as these skills are extremely important. Here at Easter Seals DuPage & Fox Valley our speech pathologists have an extensive knowledge of oral motor and feeding deficits in pediatrics.

4. Your child can participate in co-treat Sessions

When appropriate, co-treat sessions may be of benefit for your child. A co-treat session is when 2 therapies are rendered simultaneously. Often children may be receiving speech therapy along with occupational therapy or occasionally physical therapy. This allows both therapists to work together in order to improve different skills.

For example, the occupational therapist can assist with improving sensory regulation so the child is better able to attend and understand speech and language concepts. The physical therapist can assist the speech pathologist with body positioning/posture to achieve the best speech/voice possible for a child with motor deficits. This is a strength at Easter Seals DuPage & Fox Valley. We often have multiple disciplines work together to get a holistic picture of a child’s needs. 

5. Your child has minor speech/language deficits that are not addressed by the school

Some children may present mild articulation issues that may impact their ability to communicate, but are not severe enough for a child to qualify for school therapy. Private speech therapy can address these issues if found developmentally inappropriate through a private speech and language evaluation.

If you feel your child would benefit from private speech and language intervention, please visit our website here. Let me know in the comments if you have additional questions!