Quite a few children have some kind of speech impairment. When parents are faced with this problem with their child, the question arises before them: where to find a qualified and experienced speech therapist?
Instructions
Step 1
First of all, you can contact a speech therapist at a clinic, kindergarten or school that your child attends. If there is an opportunity to go to him, then you will not need any financial costs - it's free. In addition, you don't have to take your child somewhere. However, it should be borne in mind that in classes with a speech therapist at a polyclinic, there is a certain quota for classes, and these hours may not be enough to correct speech. In kindergartens and schools, speech therapy classes are held for children with minor speech impairments. If your child needs more help, you may be referred to a specialized speech therapy kindergarten or school.
Step 2
A speech therapy kindergarten is perfect for the development of a kid with serious speech impairments. In speech therapy kindergartens, both the speech therapy and the educational process of the child's development are usually perfectly organized. In addition to speech correction classes, children are engaged in the development of attention, thinking, memory, motor skills, and also teach mathematics, literacy, modeling and drawing. However, the number of individual lessons in a specialized kindergarten for a child may not be enough. In this case, you will have to additionally look for a speech therapist to deal with the child individually.
Step 3
You can also contact any paid medical center or speech therapy office. Pros of this option:
- legalized activity;
- specially equipped premises;
- careful selection of specialists;
- professionalism;
- an individual lesson plan;
- the ability to choose the optimal time.
Cons: as a rule, rather high financial costs compared to the cost of services of a private specialist.
Step 4
It's good if you can find a speech therapist on the recommendation of friends. Especially if they are happy with the results of his work. This option is good because you can find out objective information about the speech therapist, about his professionalism. However, you need to keep in mind that a specialist who was recommended to you by someone from your acquaintances or friends may not meet the deadline in which he corrected the speech defect in another child. Since there are no identical children, the timing of elimination of speech problems for different children is individual.
Step 5
If you are unable to find a private speech therapist on a recommendation, you can find one through an advertisement in the newspaper or on the Internet. Advantages of this option: home visit, if such a service is provided; the ability to agree on a payment that suits both parties. Cons: it is difficult to find objective reviews about a private specialist; there are no guarantees and official obligations on the part of a private speech therapist. Therefore, it is advisable to find out as much information as possible about his professionalism and work experience.
Step 6
Questions to ask the speech therapist:
- what are his qualifications and experience?
- what is the cost of the lessons?
- how long will it take to attend classes?
Step 7
After a while, when the child begins to work with a specialist, pay attention to how the speech therapist communicates with the child, how at ease the baby feels in his company. Do not forget that success in correcting speech disorders depends largely on mutual understanding between the speech therapist and the child. Therefore, it is very important how much contact is established between them.
Step 8
Also, try to be present in the classroom yourself to understand how the speech correction work is progressing. Also, be sure to exercise at home with your child, doing speech therapist exercises. A speech skill is not acquired in one lesson, constant training is important here. Therefore, in order for classes with a speech therapist to be effective and fruitful for the child, be sure to work out these tasks with the child.
