Move Your Family, Keep Your Speech Services

Move Your Family, Keep Your Speech Services

Parents' Corner

I’ve gotten the following question from clients, friends and friends of friends numerous times over the course of my career:

“we are moving but can we still keep our speech services?”

The answer is actually not so simple. In a given year, almost 20% of Americans families will move, either locally, across state lines or internationally, according to the 2010 US Census. A good number of these families have children and, as I’ve said in previous blog posts, as many as 10% of the total pediatric population presents with a communication challenge. So, this is no trivial issue – it is a source of uncertainty and anxiety for potentially millions of families every year. I will focus on general steps for seamlessly retaining your speech services (i.e. with a minimal hiatus) for: 1) early intervention; 2) pre-school services; 3) school-age services. I will discuss both public and private options as well as considerations for easy, intra-city moves, inter-state moves as well as international moves. With this general information, I hope you, the parent of a child tackling his or her speech challenge, will be more empowered to get started finding a speech therapist as soon as possible whatever the location of your “greener pastures” may be.

Photo courtesy Orange County Archives

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How to Find a Speech Therapist

Speech Therapist
Yellow Pages

Image source: searchengineland.com

You have just learned that your child may have a speech disorder and you feel overwhelmed. There are lots of details to sort out: what type of treatment your child needs, whether your insurance will cover it, and how to find a speech therapist that can help him.

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