My son is 3.5 years old and is still struggling with speech. He knows lots of words and can repeat whatever you teach him as for learning new words. He had hearing tests done, and his hearing is fine. The dr thinks due to so many ear infections and fluid in his ears; At the peak time for learning speech, he is behind. We saw a speech therapist and had the evaluation done to see if speech therapy would be a good fit to help him, and she agreed he should start being seen once a week. I was so happy to get the ball rolling with helping him. I got the call yesterday that our insurance denied the speech therapy; I was so heartbroken. When telling my husband about it, I broke into tears because I feel horrible. It’s $65 per session out of pocket if we went without insurance, and that’s just not a choice right now. So my question is, is there any type of program I can do with him at home? I am a teacher and feel like I could teach him if I just knew what to teach him and how to guide him. Or should I call my insurance and see if there’s any way around this? Secondary insurance? Any advice is welcome and thank you for reading this far!!
Is there anyway you can call the speech pathologist and explain the situation right now?
Maybe they can offer 1-2 sessions per month and give you some activities and ways to help him at home.
Talk to your school district. It may be covered through Early Child Education.
Contact your local school district. They should be able to help you.
Otismo speech app its like $14 amonth but worth it. Have you applied for medicaid? Pecs pictures also
Do you use air fresheners? Scented detergent on his bedding? Burn candles? Use highly scented cleansers? All these things affected my children and ear infections
Call your county services. My son receives speech therapy through the county and we don’t pay anything. The county pays for it.
Following because I am in this exact same boat with my 3.5 yr old daughter! Dr said its from the same thing.
Schools usually do this for nothing
Contact your county . Early intervention is free through county programs !
YouTube has a ton of speech therapy videos for kids, super duper publications is a site for speech therapists but they also have a digital library with tons and tons of worksheets, games flash cards and so much more you can use via their monthly subscription which is less then $20.
Also look through your county because they should have programs to help. I know where I live they do.
Check out YouTube videos
Do u have a head start in it area he would get speech there. Or a school that deals with kids like him and other disabilities
My son got set up with speech therapy through the school district and it is all free. Definitely check into that.
At that age contact your school district. Most have programs In place for this. My son was delayed pretty bad in speech. Our local schools district takes over at 3 for these issues
We started with speech therapy and it got to expensive. We went with out school district for preschool and it helped her alot
YouTube has a lot of videos that can help you with speech therapy and I had my son used a straw to drink his milk and water it help a lot. Talk using short sentences only until your child get better.
Read to him alot and talk to him. Correct him n help him with phonics. Find a game that’s for phonics
Have you checked thru school ?? I had a daycare a few years ago they came once a week per any child one on one to work with and continued after they entered kindergarten a long as was needed it was free . They left me forms to give out for parents of children that came thru I felt could use some help to be tested .
My daughter had same issues was able to get speech therapy at4 public school was in Canadian county
I believe if you are in the US and he’s over 3 you can go through your school district - it can be more complicated
My son is exactly the same, we’re in England so speech therapy is free here, but the therapist gave me some boards to do with him at home, like this one
Call the doctor who agreed to see him & ask if they will appeal the decision.
You yourself should also call the insurance company & appeal the decision.
If all else fails, put him in head start & they will diagnose him & get a free school plan put in place.
My daughter is in a program. She has been delayed in a few different areas since 6 months old. Shes in physica therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy and all of it is free because of the program she is in she is 2.5 and will start preschool at 3 she will have an IEP and preschool will also be free because of her program
Has he had tubes put in his ears to drain the fluid ??? Both my boys had many ear infections and fluid … tubes wax the best thing I did. No longer were they hearing like they were under water .
I’d also keep pushing back on the insurance company
Ot and speech therapy. And have ears tested if u haven’t already.
My son is currently in speech therapy. He goes to one that is through his insurance and the other one, they come to my house and is a free program. I’m doing both to get him as much help as possible. So check around your area and see what’s available. There are many resources, you just have to find it
If a doctor prescribes speech therapy ins won’t cover it? Your word doesn’t count. Check and see what is required for insurance to pay.
Speech therapy through school also my grandson didn’t talk until 3and half but taught him sign language with a free program and in no time he was talking and reading
You should be able to get it from the school district but also check your local university if you have one. Some of them bring in kids from the community so the speech/language students can learn how to work with kids under their professor’s supervision.
There is an app called articulation station, it does cost money but only a few dollars here and there.
At 3.5 you could start looking into pre schools 
my daughter started her speech therapy in pre-K and it has helped a ton the school has been really great too
Idk what state you’re in, but I’m in Pennsylvania and we have an early intervention program run by the state through the county you reside in. See if you have that available in your state! They send an evaluation team to your home (idk how that would be during current situation) and if your child is behind in any milestone, theyll approve you for whatever service they need (ot, pt, speech). It’s not through your insurance at all, and completely free.
In missouri we have something called first steps but they have to be 50% behind to qualify . Parents as teachers is a good resource too
I used to teach speech therapy with children in school, one of the best things you can do is make sure you make eye contact when you’re speaking with your child so that they are actively watching your face when you speak, this helps with recognition of the way the face moves with each sound and word that you speak. Another thing you could do is practice sounds with your child in a mirror side by side so they can see their own face moving in the same way. For example the letter “L” can be tricky to learn but showing your child the way your mouth works when making the sound can really help! Show in the mirror that you need to press your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth to make it.
Try a couple of these things while you wait for speech support and it will help a lot 
good luck xxx​:heart:
My son had a speech problem when he was 2. The school system in Nebraska has free programs he is now 26 and won’t shut up. Lol.
Maybe get him screened for Pre-k or EC? He might not qualify for either but could receive speech services that way.
speech thru ur school district. my son started speech at 3.
Every kids is different my kids don’t speak probably till 5yrs old. I was so worried with my first but with my second I knew not too.
Go thru the school system. Insurance needs 2 diagnoses before they agree to a speech therapist. We went thru the same thing. My son had almost 20 ear infections in a year and was sooooo delayed with speech and now has a diagnoses of “speech delay” but only after his insurance denied the therapist. We went thru babies cant wait but they age out at 3yrs.
Contact your public schools. A lot of the time they have free services that can help with speech.
You can see if you’re public school system has a speech program. They’re normally free.
Talk to him lots, read with him. Let him see how you say words like have, off, thief. There is a game called funny phonics which could get you talking too.
Have him evaluated through the school and they can create and IEP for him based on his needs.
honestly i would find a way to come up with the money
Go throw the school district