Speech Therapy Wendy - What state are you located in? To answer both responses..we are in Massachusetts. To CinTexas:  I have done some research on my own.  There is just so much out there, I haven't found anything yet.  I asked them for it at the last meeting which was in September, and was told that it was just her experience working with non-verbal children  that tells her that group is better than 1:1.   I spoke with the teacher this afternoon at pick-up.  I think I offended her unfortunately.  We were talking about the speech and how she was waiting until Friday to send home the revised IEP (due to a couple of other questions we had) .  We talked about the fact that her therapist at Children's wants her to have individual and she gave me all these reasons why she couldn't ranging from the fact that my daughter doesn't have the pre-cursors for language and that she does all the individual work with her.  She takes her cues from the therapist.  I said that I was happy with what she was doing but that another special ed teacher told me that individual therapy needs to be done by a therapist because they could pick up on things that the teacher might not.    She then had to go inside.  Basically I told her that I was waiting on the full report from Children's and that if it stated there that she needed 1:1, I wasn't going to accept that portion of the IEP.  I don't think she was happy.  I don't know what to do.      Hi.  I am a new member to this group.  I have a 6 1/2 year old daughter with Down Syndrome who is also possibly autistic.  She is non-verbal, very delayed in all areas, especially in the area of communication.  We had her IEP meeting last week, and the school is continuing to insist that one 30 minute group speech therapy session is sufficient.  Before I go into a whole lot of detail..does anybody else have this issue?  Do non-verbal children typically get  1:1 therapy or is group the norm? Thanks Wendy That depends on your school district, and sometimes on your therapist and their experience. I don't think there is a "norm." I've seen school therapists balk at doing group sessions b/c "I can't be sure to hit everyone's individual goals in a group." This was my personal experience. And I've seen other parents deal with therapists who insist on doing it in a group, probably b/c it saves them time. They don't ever give a clear reason on why the child needs a group so the only conclusion I can come to is that it's for their own convenience. Proving how much time your child needs and that they need one on one could be tough. Of course they can benefit from one on one, but they can also benefit from having peer models who may be more advanced than they are. Proving actual need is tough. And that's an important distinction. The school does not have to provide every service that would be beneficial to the child; they only have to provide services to meet documented NEEDS. We have convinced our IEP team that our child NEEDS both one on one and group sessions. Although the group sessions are with non-disabled peers in a reverse inclusion setting. The non-disabled peers' parents have given permission for their child to help a disabled child learn play skills. The speech therapist is present to prompt our child and work on language as well. The non- disabled child is not receiving services, and thus it does not violate their right to LRE. It took me about five years to convince my school district that this would not violate the non-disabled peer's rights, and that it would not only be beneficial to my child, but is an actual NEED. My child also gets one on one sessions with the same speech therapist as well. So new skills get worked on with the therapist in one on one and then generalized in the peer sessions. Personally, I think this is the ideal. And he now gets two 30 minute sessions a week. For a long time he only got one 30 min session/week, mostly b/c that's what they did with everybody. Your best bet for proving that your child needs one on one is if they don't make progress in group sessions. Then you have proof. I'm not sure if there's another way to prove one on one would be better than group. You can turn the tables on that though and ask them to explain, preferably in writing, why they feel a group session fits your child's needs and a one on one session does not. Let me give a little more information.  My daughter is in her 4th year of preschool, most of that time has been with two other little boys who are also  non-verbal and severely disabled.  The speech group consists of only these three children.  There are not typically developing children in her group to learn from.  They do spend 30 minutes 2x a week in another classroom for circle time, but other than that..they are completely separate.  The school claims that the reason she needs group vx 1:1 is because she needs to be taught in her natural enviornment.  1:1 is considered medical therapy, and they do educational therapy.  Personally, I believe it is a budget issue.  The principal even stated last year that they couldn't afford to have her there all the time..for each child in that class.  I have observed the group therapy.  The therapist went from child to child with each activity..so each kid got approximately 10 minutes of interaction with the therapist.  My daughter was not focused..did not pay attention.  She was constantly turning around, trying to get up, reaching for the child next to her..ect. I asked if this was typical behavior or if it was because I was there.  I was told it is typical behavior for her.  In outside 1:1 therapy, we do see some of that behavior, but not to the extent that I saw in school.  We have reports from doctors, outside therapists, and a psychologist stating that she needs 1:1.  They refuse.  I"m not against the speech group, I just feel that she needs more than the group.        I guess I should have been more clear.  I didn't think your daughter's group had typically developing children in it.  I was just trying to explain why I thought my son's group sessions were beneficial; he has those kids as models.  If his group session consisted of only other disabled peers whose issues were just as severe as his, I would not be happy with that either. Well, lots of schools do 1:1 and consider it educational therapy.  I can say I've never heard that one.  Would a child working one on one with a teacher on academic goals be getting "medical tutoring?"  Their definition is flawed.  Ask them for the LAW, state or federal, that defines 1:1 as "medical therapy" in writing.  That's where I would start. I would also start digging up research that shows it is best practice to teach new skills in an intensive teaching session (i.e. discrete trials one on one) before using a group to generalize those skills. Hopefully others will have other advice for you.
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