Is There an "End" Near of Speech Therapy

by Sherri
(Marlton, NJ, )

Brave little boy

Hello,

My son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS when he was two years old. The neurologist told us that he was very close to normal.

Soon after that we started Early Intervention therapy including OT, Speech and worked with a Child Developmental Behavorist.

After a year of in-home services he was placed in an all day Autism Program for preschool in our town in New Jersey. He continued to receive OT, Speech and PT in preschool.

His biggest issue has always been his "speech". In preschool he was receiving two 30 minute speech sessions a week.

I wanted him to get more therapy.

So, we started getting him outside speech therapy through our insurance at Weisman Rehabilitation Center. We have now been doing this for four years now (increasing his therapy to 2x a week during the Summer).

Well, our son is now almost 8 years old and he has been receiving speech therapy since he was 2.

His speech is not perfect, and it will get "bumpy" especially if he gets excited. If he could just stick to slowing down his speech while talking he would be released from Weisman!

Don't misunderstand me, because at age 3 he was talking and you could not understand 90% of what he was saying.

He has made tremendous progress, and he knows what techniques to use in order for his speech to come out clearly and more fluent.

My question to you is, will he be 16 years old with speech therapy still? Or, should I get him more help somewhere else? Thank you.

Sincerely,

Sherri Hinson