The services will be through the First Steps Program (Kentucky)
I don't know if other states have it or not.
We get two sessions - 1 at our house on at DC - at DC they have provided a small area so R can get his speech therapy without distraction - tis is just a room where there are no kids present
when I have attended - they seem to play with toys purposefully where his therapist will say read a book with him but pronouce each word slowly
J will be starting speech therapy soon and since i am the daycare provider, i don't really know what will be involved in all of it.
I don't like not knowing what to expect-- so if any of you can give me some insight on this, then that would be great!
I was wondering if they would come to my house or just his house?
How long does each session usually last? etc.........
Melomo -
First Steps, from what I can tell, is similar to ECI (Early Childhood or Early Childhood Intervention) in other states. I'm not sure how others operate, but here, a ST (speech therapist) came to our house at a scheduled times. In the beginning, they worked simply on engaging my son to interact with them, and to develop a "give/take" relationship that they could then use to work on specific goals. Once they'd established an interactive relationship, then they could begin to focus his attention on learning. Depending on how old "J" is, the sessions might last 30 minutes to an hour. Attention spans usually dictate whether the session is a success or a flop!
Talk with "J's" parents and find out from them how their program is set up. If the therapist will not be coming to your location, but to J's house, you might ask the parents what the speech therapist is working on so you can incorporate some games that might help that skill. In my son's case, I have shared information between both of his current STs (one private and one through the school) so they could coordinate their efforts and provide maximum impact. Also, by knowing what their goals are, I can work on similar things at home, and his care provider does the same while I'm working. I've created story books along the lines of what they're working on to help reinforce what he's been learning ("I am so-and-so"), ("I am X years old") ("this is the color whatever"), etc.
The "Baby Bumblebee" vocabulary video series that's out there offers some good language reinforcement that you can use as well, (particularly if it's used as a tool, and not as the babysitter). All of those things - the ST, the games, the videos, combined together are what "unplugged the dam" for us.
Kudos to you for being such a concerned careprovider, and wanting to help out in the best way you can for "J."!
They will evaluate him and make a recommendation as to how many hours a week he needs. Where we were they often went to the daycare provider and provieded the therapy there and coordinated it with the provider. You should talk to the childs parents as to rather or not someone will be coming to your home to provide the therapy. Early intervention for us was all in 1 hour sessions, normally twice a week. They will essentially come in and play with the child. That's what it will look like. And then they will most likely ask you to sign something saying that they showed up and stayed the amount of time they were suppose to, and that's it. Watching if you can would be good and will give you great ideas to work with not only him but the other kids as well. I had a completely different outlook of toys after all that therapy.Thanks for the information guys!!!! Now I atleast know a little bit more than before!
I appreciate all of your comments.
I hope they do come to my house so I can learn more on how they do the therapy.