Announcements: In School Speech Support

Hi Parents!

I hope everyone had a good weekend :)

I wanted to make a quick post about Speech and Language. I know I asked JK parents if you had any Speech and/or Language concerns for you child, and some of you filled that out on your parent survey.

I wanted to explain to you how our Speech and Language process works, so hopefully you'll have a better understanding:

• If your child is CURRENTLY receiving support from Early Words, they unfortunately are not eligible for in school support for their speech.
• If you have reached out for your own support (i.e., McMaster, Speech and Language pathologists, etc.), you are eligible for support, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean you'll receive it.

How it works is we put names forward of students we have speech concerns about (that follow under above eligibility) and our Speech and Language Pathologist (SPL) will come visit them. Please know that only students with severe speech delays/issues are suggested for review. You would have been contacted by now if this is the case for permission for our SPL to speak to your child. From here, your child will be assessed and recommendations will be put forward.

I want to make you all aware that this is something completely out of my hands. All I can do is refer them and leave it up to our SPL. If I can be very blunt with you, only children with severe speech problems often receive support (and unfortunately, sometimes what you think is severe isn't according to their standards), and support doesn't usually start until SK or Grade 1, as many speech issues cannot be deemed either developmental or an issue until a certain age. Now, I'm clearly not a SPL so I can't really even speak on that, but I want you to know that:

a) If you have speech concerns and your child won't be receiving support, there is little in the classroom I can do due to time and limited knowledge.

b) If you are wondering about activities you can do at home, services you can utilize within the community, etc., I can certainly get you in contact with our SPL, who can then send you some resources, etc.

I hope this has given you some clarification. As I read through these parents surveys, I want to ensure that you are aware that goals such as improved speech, being fully potty trained, etc., are not something I can directly help with, but will do everything in my power to ensure you feel content with what I can do to help. Thanks for reading!

PS: It is STRONGLY recommended that all children have hearing tests and vision tests. Please keep us updated if you've had one done recently!!