Speech/Language Therapy
A child’s first words are among a parent’s most cherished memories. However some children have trouble pronouncing words, formulating complete sentences, speaking clearly, or understanding what people say. This can be immensely frustrating, which is why we make speech therapy an enjoyable experience and provide families with strategies to help their child communicate better at home and in the community.
How can speech therapy help my child?
- Improve understanding and expression of language
- Improve speech/sound production
- Decrease stuttering behaviors
- Improve swallowing patterns to reduce tongue thrust
- Improve communication through the use of interactive tools
- Enhance eating and swallowing skills
- Promote age appropriate play skills
Individual and Group Therapy
Meeting Street’s certified speech pathologists offer therapy for children and adolescents in one-on-one, co-treatment, and group sessions.
Evaluation and therapy goals
Through standardized assessments, parent report, and clinical observation, we identify the speech and language difficulties your child may have and develop a thorough evaluation document that can be shared with other therapists, educators, special education directors, pediatricians, and others involved in your child’s life. Following the evaluation, we work with you to establish a plan of care that is designed to meet your child’s therapy goals. This plan of care is reviewed with you periodically to assess progress and keep you involved.
Referral process
Our referral coordinator will ask you a series of questions designed to ensure that your child receives the appropriate type of evaluation. You will then receive a packet of information including a questionnaire (Link to child medical questionnaire.doc attached separately). Once we receive your completed information packet, we will contact you to schedule an appointment for an evaluation. If you have received a previous evaluation by a school district or other professional, we may accept this evaluation and schedule a therapy appointment immediately.
Referral through your pediatrician
You will need to obtain a prescription from your pediatrician authorizing the evaluation and/or services unless your child’s school district is contracting with Meeting Street to provide these services. Your doctor may fax the prescription (401) 533-9102, attn: Therapeutic Services.
Self referral/referral through your school district
If your child has received a recent evaluation from your school district or another qualified professional, we may accept this evaluation and schedule a therapy appointment immediately.
Who Pays for Therapy?
Meeting Street accepts most major insurance companies and Medicaid. Most insurance companies will pay for “medically necessary” therapy, and they will usually cover the cost of the evaluation — they will then determine funding the services from the results of the evaluation. There may be a co-pay or deductible based on your insurance. Self-pay is also accepted. For further information, please contact our referral coordinator at (401) 533-9104 or submit this information request form.