I'm having my 22 month old evaluated for speech therapy. My state offers a no-cost eval through early intervention, but I can also go the private route through my insurance. Is it beneficial to have him evaluated through both services? If I only have EI evaluate him, will a private therapy require me to have him re-evaluated if I decide to go that route later? I've met my insurance deductible for this calendar year (new baby!), so I'm trying to make some quick and frugal decisions. Any experiences or recommendations are appreciated!
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if you have insurance, they make your insurance cover it. we went through public ei. that's how it worked for us in ny.
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@sunstar: in my opinion I would go the early intervention route. But I may be biased because I'm an early intervention speech therapist!!! The reason I say it though is because EI will likely goce you speech services with a speech therapist and then also services from an infant teacher. Also the services will be in your home and very much family based, involving you and anyone else in the home. We also work closely with local school districts to help transition to school therapy at age 3. I'm of course all for private practice, but generally insurance will only pay for a certain amount of sessions and the speech therapists are typically used to working with closer to school aged kids, unless you have one in your area that specializes in birth-3. Good luck with whatever you decide and good for you for seeking out early intervention
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@Mrs. Bee: That might not be true in all states and under all insurance plans. It certainly wasn't the case when I looked into EI services for my son.
I would get two evaluations. I am biased toward private therapy but that's because my insurance covered a certain amount of sessions and we found an amazing therapist.
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I think public only would be fine. It's free and I'm very happy with the EI services my son received. If they decide you don't qualify (and I think they tend to err on the side of more services) you can go the private route.
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We have insurance and we went public EI. Insurance was never mentioned in our state. Our EI experience was fantastic. I was prepared to drop it and/or add private as needed but she thrived in the program.
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We have been happy with our experience in EI. It varies from state to state how it works as far as insurance goes. Our state bills insurance first (if you have it) and then EI pays like a secondary insurance. We have an EI teacher who comes to the house, but go to see a speech therapist in office. This is the same therapist that we saw privately while waiting for his acceptance into EI. Every state does things a little differently but I like that my son will be followed until he's 3 and then further services will be provided through the schools if needed. They help with that transition also.
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Thank you all so much for your input! I think we'll go with EI to start and see what happens. It seems like most people have had positive experiences, so we'll hope for the same.
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@sunstar: We also used EI and were given the option of going through insurance or not. The only thing I would add is that it can take quite awhile to get started in EI, whereas private therapy would probably get you through the eval and actually working with a therapist sooner.
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@chuckles: Good to know! I will keep that in mind. I was a PS teacher, so I can appreciate the time that it might take. It sounds like a lot of things are state-specific, so I'll have to find out what Fl. has in place.
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9 comments