Your Child Didn't Qualify for Early Intervention. What Now? A guide for parents in Nassau County.

You had concerns about your child's speech or language development, so you did what you were supposed to do. You reached out, scheduled an evaluation and went through the Early Intervention or school based evaluation process.

Then you were told your child didn't qualify for services.

Now what?

This is something I hear from parents often. Their child may not meet the specific requirements for Early Intervention or school based services, but they still have concerns.

Maybe your child isn't talking as much as you expected. Maybe they're having trouble putting words together. Maybe other people have difficulty understanding them. Maybe they become frustrated when they can't communicate what they want. Or maybe you simply have that feeling as a parent that they could use some extra support.

Not qualifying for services doesn't mean you have to stop asking questions.

What does it mean if my child didn't qualify?

Early Intervention and school based programs have specific eligibility requirements that determine which children receive services.

If your child doesn't meet those requirements, it doesn't necessarily mean there is nothing to work on or that your concerns aren't valid.

It means they didn't meet the criteria required to receive services through that particular program.

That's an important distinction.

There are children who may not qualify for a public program but can still benefit from additional support with their speech, language or communication skills.

And that's where private speech therapy can be an option.

When should I consider private speech therapy?

There's no single answer because every child develops differently.

But if you went through an evaluation because you had concerns in the first place and those concerns haven't gone away, it's reasonable to continue asking questions.

You might be noticing that your child:

Isn't using as many words as you expected

Has difficulty putting words together

Is difficult for you or other people to understand

Gets frustrated when trying to communicate

Has difficulty expressing their wants, needs or ideas

Has trouble understanding questions or following directions

Has difficulty interacting or communicating with other children

Or you may not be able to identify one specific issue. You just know that something about your child's communication is concerning you.

You don't need to figure this out on your own.

A conversation with a speech language pathologist can help you better understand what you're seeing and whether an evaluation or additional support might be helpful.

How can Little Sunflowers help?

At Little Sunflowers Speech & Language, we work with infants, toddlers and children with a variety of speech and language needs.

We also work with families whose children may not qualify for Early Intervention or school based services, but whose parents still feel they could benefit from additional support.

We start by listening to you.

What are you noticing at home?

What prompted you to seek an evaluation in the first place?

What is easy for your child?

What seems difficult?

What would you like your child to be able to communicate more easily?

From there, we can help determine an appropriate next step.

What does private speech therapy look like?

Our approach is personalized because every child's communication needs are different.

Depending on your child's needs, therapy may focus on areas such as speech and language development, articulation and speech sounds, expressive language, receptive language or social communication.

For young children, therapy doesn't have to feel like sitting at a table doing work.

Our sessions are play based and engaging. We can use toys, activities and everyday interactions to work toward communication goals in a way that feels natural for your child.

Little Sunflowers also provides in home therapy, which allows us to work with children in a comfortable, familiar environment and incorporate communication strategies into activities and routines that are already part of their lives.

What happens if I contact Little Sunflowers?

Getting started doesn't have to mean immediately committing to therapy.

We offer a free phone consultation so you can tell us what's going on and ask questions.

We'll talk about what you're noticing, your child's history and any previous evaluations or services.

If an evaluation seems appropriate, that's usually the next step.

The goal of the evaluation is to better understand your child's communication skills, identify areas where they may benefit from additional support and help determine what comes next.

If therapy is recommended, we'll develop an individualized plan based on your child's specific needs and goals.

In other words, you don't need to know exactly what your child needs before you call us.

That's what we're here to help you figure out.

What if I'm worried about overreacting?

Parents sometimes wonder if they should simply wait and see.

And sometimes monitoring a child's development may be appropriate.

But having a concern doesn't mean you're overreacting, and scheduling a conversation doesn't commit you to therapy.

If something has been on your mind, asking a speech language pathologist about it can give you more information and help you decide what makes sense for your child.

Sometimes the next step is therapy.

Sometimes it's strategies you can work on at home.

Sometimes it's continuing to monitor development.

The first step is simply understanding what's going on.

You still have options

Being told that your child doesn't qualify for Early Intervention or school based speech services can be confusing, especially when you still have concerns.

But that decision doesn't have to be the end of the conversation.

Private speech therapy gives families another option.

If you're in Merrick or a surrounding Nassau County community and you're still concerned about your child's speech, language or communication development, we'd be happy to talk with you.

Little Sunflowers Speech & Language provides personalized, play based pediatric speech and language therapy for infants, toddlers and children in Merrick and surrounding Nassau County communities.

Still have questions about your child?

Start with a free phone consultation. Tell me what you're noticing and we'll help you determine what the next step might be.

Schedule a Free Consultation: (516) 668-1445