Looking for a speech therapist for a 2 year old
Hello network!
I live in North Berkeley and am hoping to find a speech therapist for my 2 year old, ideally a short drive away. She is gaining new words each day, but is delayed and frustrated that she can't communicate more. If you know of someone nearby, I would love suggestions.
Sep 26, 2023
Parent Replies
Play more with her. And I mean like a lot of play. Do the playground play, board game play, park play, ball play, doll house play, action figure play, play based preschool, play date, church play, kitchen play...etc And when you are playing with her, describe everything that you do using your words. And let her repeat.
Once she is about to become 3, get a free evaluation from your school district.
In my experience with my kid (3 yr old), the speech therapist played games and called it therapy. Maybe it's the age?
And don't forget to check the ears and adenoids and nose and hearing Your ENT and audiologist can do that
Hi. My wife and I navigated this with our slow to talk two year old. We got her assessed by the regional center, which organizes therapy for children before they age into therapy provided by the school district. They legally have to assess your kid within a certain number of days after you request an assessment, that will happen quickly. Our kid was borderline and the assessor made sure she qualified for free services. Finding a therapist is much more difficult though. There are only a few providers and the times aren’t great. We’re actually going to wrap it up soon because our kid is talking more, and the therapist we were assigned does not seem that great. If you go through with this, make sure the assessor recommends therapy at the frequency you desire. Our kid got got assigned three sessions a month which is not possible logistically for us. Good luck!
I don't have a therapist to recommend, but have you reached out to your pediatrician? A referral through your medical provider might point you in the right direction. Often private SLPs will contract with medical providers, and could provide more options of therapists than the Regional Center.
In response to some of the other comments, it might look like the therapist is just playing, but they're not! First, it should be fun. Children learn through play. The best therapists will make it look and feel like play, but are actually very intentional and imbedding lessons and strategies into play. While I agree it's good to play and talk/describe/narrate with your child, you know her best. If you think she'd benefit from speech don't wait! In my professional experience in Early Intervention, the school districts are more cumbersome and don't often provide services for "cusp" kiddos. Getting this extra help now is a great help in the long run!