Makes Me Want To Scream, Part Two

I interviewed a woman – let’s call her Ms. A. -- with an early intervention provider in New York recently. Her center provides free speech, physical, occupational and other therapies to children under three for those who qualify.

Let’s talk about what it means to “qualify.”

I’ve known, from my own experiences and from talking to my fellow speech-moms, that plenty of children in need of therapy are not given free services because they don’t “qualify.” It doesn’t mean the child doesn’t have a speech or language problem that requires therapy. But because the early intervention system has far more kids than it can ever serve, and too few therapists, their criteria for determining eligibility is more stringent than what a private therapist may use to determine if a child requires services.

Here’s what Ms. A. explained to me: to qualify for free services in New York, a child needs to be delayed by two standard deviations below the mean in one area of development, such as speech, or one-and-a-half standard deviations below the mean in two areas, for example, speech and gross motor skills.

Ms. A: New York used to allow services for a child with a two standard deviation delay in expressive language but was on target for receptive language. Now they don’t.

Me: So basically any kid with apraxia wouldn’t be given services?

Ms. A: That’s right.

If Ms. A. wasn’t as nice as she was, and just as indignant as I had become, I might have started smashing the phone into my desk.

Here’s what you should know about apraxia – one of the key characteristics of this neurological disorder is that there is a big discrepancy between a child’s receptive language, what he understands, and his expressive language, his ability to express himself verbally. It’s not like a child who has a simple delay and will eventually get up to speed. A kid with apraxia will not learn to talk without intensive speech therapy.

And it seems – for those families unable to afford private therapy – without moving out of New York first.