The 3 year old birthday is a particularly big one when it comes to speech therapy. And here’s why:

Before your child turns 3 years old (36 months old), they will receive speech therapy services through an Early Intervention Program. These services are often provided in the home and are designed to help support early communication development. Learn more about how to find a speech therapist for your child under 36 months of age here. 

After your child is 36 months old, they are eligible for speech therapy services through the Public School System. The school system will conduct their own speech and language evaluation and create an Individualized Education Plan (IEP - more on this in a bit) which lists the services that will be provided to support your child. I will walk you through the 8 Steps To Getting Started (use the link to jump ahead).

I know you probably have a million questions about elementary or preschool speech therapy services. And I understand the process to get started can be pretty confusing.

I’m going to do my best to answer all the questions running through your mind, giving you a roadmap for accessing public school speech therapy for your child. My goal is to help you feel a little more prepared to tackle the IEP speech therapy process with confidence! 

In this post, we’ll talk specifically about how to get started with school speech therapy for your 3+ year old. If you're curious about the different options for speech therapy, see this post.

Before we go any further - here are some key terms and abbreviations you’ll want to be aware of as you get started in preschool speech therapy. 

Key Vocabulary Terms

Speech Therapy For a 3 Year Old & Older Children

The Steps To Getting an IEP For Speech:

Regardless of your child’s age (3 years or older), the process you will take to get started in school speech therapy is the same. 

1. Find the right contact information

You’re looking for an email or a physical address for your school districts special education speech therapy department.

Here’s how to do that:

Open up your favorite search engine and type: 

• “speech therapy department ______insert your ___ school district” 

• Or “special education department ___insert your_____ school district” - the speech therapy department is part of the overall special education program. 

You want to find an address or an email because you’re going to submit a request in writing. Having things in writing is important!

2. Write A Formal Request

Now, you’re going to write a letter or email to the school requesting a speech and language evaluation for you child.

I always recommend writing a letter (as opposed to making a phone call) because having a letter gives you a digital or print record of the date you first contacted the school district - this is important because the school district legally has a certain number of days to follow up with you. For example, in California schools have 15 calendar days to propose a plan to parents after a request is made and consent is provided.

You’ll want to include the following information in your written request. 

• Your child’s full name

• Your child’s date of birth

• Your name, address, and phone number

• State whether your child is enrolled in school or not. If they are enrolled in a school include the name and contact information for their school. 

• Include whether your child has received speech therapy before; and if so please provide a detailed description of why they were in speech therapy, which goals you were working on, and if they are currently in speech therapy or why speech therapy ended. 

• State your specific concern(s). You want to give a detailed and specific explanation of WHY you’re asking for an evaluation, it’s okay to include your observations and any details you have. It might sound like this: “I’m requesting that Julie be evaluated because her trouble with pronunciation makes me think she may need speech therapy. Julie seems to have a hard time pronouncing longer words. They are always garbled and other people have a really hard time understanding her. I’m worried that her teacher won’t be able to understand her when she needs something or if something is wrong.”

• At the end, you’ll always want to very clearly state that you give consent for your child to be evaluated. You can simply say, “I give consent for Julie to be evaluated.” The school will most certainly ask you to sign a Consent to Evaluate form, but it’s good to give them everything they need to get started off the bat. 

• Print your name, sign your name, and date at the bottom

3. Get Confirmation

Now that you have written your letter or email you want to be certain it gets delivered.

If you take the letter to the speech education or speech therapy office yourself, be sure to request a time stamped copy of the letter you delivered for your records.

If you’ve mailing in your letter, make sure to send the letter via certified mail from the post office and request a return receipt, which will tell you the date on which the school received your letter.

If sending an email, you can request the school representative reply upon receipt. 

4. Familiarize yourself with the rules and timelines

Under IDEA, the school system is legally obligated to evaluate your child and provide them any services that are identified as necessary during that evaluation. And having an understanding of the legal timelines can give you a sense of calm, knowing you won’t be waiting forever. The legal timelines are the same for preschool speech therapy and elementary school speech therapy.

There are tons of legal practices that outline the IEP Timelines for the school districts on their websites. To be sure you have the most accurate information about your school district, try searching: “Your State or City + Legal Timelines IEP Process.”

Here in CA, schools have 15 days to respond to a parent’s request for an evaluation, and 60 days to schedule an initial IEP meeting to discuss the supports and services the school will provide.

5. The speech and language evaluation

A speech and language evaluation will be conducted by a speech therapist from your child’s school district. Depending on the child’s age and communication level, the evaluation may include:

• formal tests

• play

• conversation

• academic type tasks

• input from parents regarding their concerns, observations, and goals for their child

6. Your first IEP meeting

After your child is evaluated, the school will schedule your initial IEP meeting. It’s likely that several representatives from the school, including the speech therapist, will be present at your meeting.

During your initial IEP meeting, the school will review:

• The findings of any evaluations

• Their recommendations for support and services

While many school speech therapists are fantastic and create phenomenal plans for preschool speech therapy, it’s unfortunately not always the case (the same is true for SLPs in private practices and clinics).

It’s IMPORTANT to know that you can negotiate with the school if you feel their recommendations will not meet your child’s needs. You do NOT have to sign the IEP documents during that meeting, and it’s okay to take them home with you to read it over, especially if you’re feeling anxious or stressed at the meeting (which is totally normal).

Here’s an example of things I would NOT agree to on an IEP:

• Take a look at the frequency and duration of speech therapy. For example, if the school is offering speech therapy for a 3 year old 20 hours per school year, they could technically provides all 20 hours in the same week or month and not provide any support the rest of the year. I think it’s best to agree to how many hours of speech therapy will be provided each week (or each month) to ensure therapy is provided consistently throughout the school year.

• Be mindful of the suggested speech therapy setting. Some children and some diagnoses are better treated in group speech therapy, while others are best supported in individual speech therapy. For example, speech therapy for a 3 year old with apraxia of speech would be best in an individual setting (*most likely, there are no hard set rules here), whereas a 3 year old working on self-advocacy or social language goals may best be served in a group setting. You know your child best, so your input can be really helpful when planning the best setting for your child.

• Be sure you understand the IEP speech therapy goals. It’s important that you know what the school is working on and feel confident about how you can support those same goals as well. Additionally, you may suggest different goals if you feel the proposed IEP goals don’t fit your child’s needs.

• I’ve seen IEPs that have a homework or parent education goal included, which is really beneficial for everyone. It allows the SLP time to communicate to you what they are working on in speech therapy at school so you can practice at home, which often leads to faster progress. If this isn’t a part of your plan I’d suggest adding it formally, or creating an informal plan for how you’re going to get speech therapy “homework.”

Once you come to an agreement with the school regarding school therapy for your child, the school will begin to provide those services.

7. Getting started with speech therapy

Your child will begin speech therapy once the IEP is agreed upon and signed by the school district and you, the child’s parents.

The first few sessions will probably be spent easing your child into their new speech therapy routine and getting to know their speech therapist.

Speech therapist will document your child’s progress towards their IEP speech therapy goals at least 4 times each school year and the IEP will be updated as your child reaches their goals.

8. Practicing at home

A huge part of your child’s success in speech therapy, regardless of the setting, is practicing at home. Even if you aren’t able to be present in speech therapy sessions, you can still ask for specific activities you can do with your child at home.

And it’s okay to ask lots of questions if you don’t understand what you’re supposed to be doing, why you’re doing it, or how it’s supposed to look. Feeling confident in your at home plan can really make a huge difference :)

Making changes and IEP meetings

Once your child has started speech therapy, things are not totally set in stone.

If you have specific concerns or want to make specific changes to the IEP because you feel like the goals or services are not working for your child, you can request an IEP meeting, much like you requested the initial evaluation for your child.

But hopefully everything goes swimmingly and preschool speech therapy is better than you had imagined! In this case you’ll still have follow up IEP meetings with the school at least once per year to touch base.

My child has met all their IEP speech therapy goals, what happens next?

If your child has met all their speech therapy goals, the speech therapist may do one of two things:

• Write new goals - If your child would continue to benefit from support, the speech therapist will curate new speech goals for your child to incrementally build their skills.

• Graduate your child from speech therapy - If your child has met all their speech goals and they are no longer facing difficulties with their speech and language skills, then they will graduate from speech therapy and they will no longer have an IEP for speech (If they are getting services other than speech therapy in the IEP, those may still continue).

Here are a few more questions parents often ask about IEP speech therapy:

Written By: Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP

© 2020-2023. Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP. All Rights Reserved.

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