This is, by far, the question I get asked most frequently.
It’s a bit of a loaded question for me as a neurodiversity-affirming therapist. I don’t see my job as helping children who “need” treatment – I see it as helping children learn new choices for how they communicate.
That being said (or typed?), whether an insurance plan will pay for speech/language treatment is based on the child’s performance with standardized tests – these tests are given to a large population of children and their results are compared between ages and sexes. It’s difficult to determine how a child will perform on these tests, especially when they’re young and/or they’ll be completing the test in a new environment with a new person (me!).
Tests/Evaluations are minimally-invasive: children play with toys and look at books while the provider follows a script to encourage the use of specific words, speech sounds, or responses from them. Children are sometimes cautious when the come to see me because they think our appointment might be like a doctor’s appointment, but I rarely touch them and my goal is for them to feel as safe and comfortable as possible so that I get the most accurate results from my testing.
I prefer to err on the side of caution and test/evaluate children who might not need treatment, rather than miss a child who does! But what can help parents decide whether to pursue testing/an evaluation is a communication checklist like this one (which is FREE!).
You can also click here to make an appointment or add your family to my waitlist.