In Episode 203 of The Pulling Curls Podcast, titled “Helping Kids with Speech with Lenora Edwards Mastered,” the host delves into the topic of supporting children with speech challenges. They discuss the importance of reaching out to teachers for insights and red flags, the benefits of in-person and virtual sessions, and the role of parents in nurturing their child’s voice. The episode also touches on early intervention, school system support, and resources like Better Speech. Listeners are encouraged to check out Lenora Edwards’ website for affordable speech therapy options. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on delivering babies in hospitals and organizing supplies. Remember, speech difficulties are not the parents’ fault, and personalized care plans can help children progress at their own pace.
Big thanks to our sponsor Practical Parenting — it’s a free course to help your parenting skills.
Lenora Edwards is a ASHA Board Certified Speech Language Pathologist and Chief Knowledge Officer with Better Speech. Since obtaining her CCC’s in 2010, she has worked with individuals of all ages from little ones who are learning to understand and express themselves to adults who want to improve their speaking skills and become a more fluent and effective communicator. Lenora loves to teach and educate others so if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Better Speech is an online speech therapy company that has been providing professional, affordable and convenient speech therapy services for more than a decade. All the Speech Language Pathologists with Better Speech are Board Certified and State Licensed with more than 10 years experience each which allows them to provide outstanding online speech therapy services nationwide and internationally. At BetterSpeech.com , we are experts at helping people communicate in the most efficient and affordable way possible!
Timestamps:
[00:02:51] Encourage older child’s authority while fostering independence.
[00:05:59] Start talking early, encourage language development.
[00:11:49] Concerned about your child’s speech development? Better Speech offers a complimentary consultation to answer your questions. Trust your instincts and seek help.
[00:17:58] Schools help kids with speech differences.
[00:18:41] Teachers and caregivers can identify speech issues
[00:24:59] Long delays may prevent qualification for services. However, online speech therapy offers covered therapy services.
[00:27:52] Gratitude for technology, speech issues in kids
Talks About:
- Reaching out to teachers for insight on speech and language development
- Red flags noticed by teachers during parent-teacher conferences or through emails
- Importance of supporting and setting boundaries for children in parenthood
- Nurturing children who may not be talking as much
- Benefits of in-person and virtual interaction for speech development
- Providing supportive and nurturing energy to help the child’s voice be heard
- It is never too late for a child to start talking and how to support their development
- Encouraging both independence and communication in children
- Thanking older siblings for their help while promoting younger sibling’s speech
- Online speech therapy available through school systems and early childhood care providers
- Importance of getting speech therapy services for articulation and expression struggles
- Red flags for speech and language difficulties
- Challenges and options for early intervention and support in the school system
- Online speech therapy services offered by Better Speech
- Techniques for engaging with children and promoting speech development
- Reminder to parents that speech difficulties are not their fault and they are doing their best
- Personalized care plans and red flags for delayed speech development
- Communication difficulties and behavioral issues
- Exposing children to a language-rich environment and supporting their communication development
- Development milestones for vocabulary growth.
Links for you:
- Start Now: https://www.betterspeech.com/start-now
- Better Speech Resources: https://www.betterspeech.com/blog
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@better.speech
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BetterSpeechVideo
Producer: Drew Erickson
Keywords:
reaching out to teachers, habits, student advancement, high functioning children, speech or language issues, red flags, parent-teacher conferences, emails, overwhelmed teachers, supporting children, setting boundaries, nurturing children, opportunities, talking, in-person interaction, energy, rapport, virtual sessions, expressive communication, supportive energy, child’s voice, development, facilitating communication, everyday life, older children, authority figure, independence, communication, promoting speech, online speech therapy, early childhood care providers, speech language pathologist, articulation, expressing themselves, social interactions, bullying, struggling to tell a story, remembering information, intervention and support, qualifying for services, Better Speech, outside of school system, insurance coverage, flexibility, convenience, family techniques, continuity of care, technology, gratitude, affordable speech therapy, delivering babies, organizing supplies, worry, judgment, reassurance, techniques, tools, self-talk, narrating, describing, sports casting, knowledge, modeling, babbling, communication practice, consultation, accessibility, delayed speech development, lack of intentional communication, same sound for everything, personalized care plans, communication difficulties, behavioral issues, professional help, language-rich environment, face to face engagement, body language, facial expressions, cooing, crying, vocalization, babbling, pointing, expressing needs, vocabulary growth.
Transcript
Hilary Erickson [00:00:00]:
Hey, guys. Welcome back to The Pulling Curls Podcast. Today on Episode 203, we are talking about helping your kids with their speech. Let’s untangle it. Hi, I’m Hilary, a serial overcomplicator. I’m also a nurse, mom to three, and the curly head behind Pulling Curls and The Pregnancy Nurse. This podcast aims to help us stop overcomplicating things and remember how much easier it is to keep things simple. Let’s smooth out those snarls with pregnancy and parenting untangled: The Pulling Curls Podcast.
Hilary Erickson [00:00:40]:
Okay. Today’s guest is a board certified speech language pathologist, and she’s also the chief knowledge officer at Better Speech. I want to introduce today’s guest, Lenora Edwards. This episode of the Pulling Curls Podcast is sponsored by Practical Parenting. If you guys want just some simple parenting tips or even to know that you’re not alone in specific issues, come join me. I’ll put the link in the show notes or you can find it on Pulling Curls under courses. It’s totally free. Hey, Lenora. Welcome to the Pulling Curls podcast.
Lenora Edwards [00:01:18]:
Hi, Hilary. Thank you so much for having me. It’s so much fun to be here with you.
Hilary Erickson [00:01:22]:
I think this is such an important subject because I think it’s confusing as a parent because you’ll hear your friends like, oh, my kid already says 6000 words. And you’re like, mine still points at the sippy cup and just goes and you’re like, I’m losing.
Lenora Edwards [00:01:37]:
Obviously it’s so tricky to navigate. Especially when you hear, oh, they know 5000 words and do I chase them around with a pen and paper? But how do I figure this out? Very tricky. So we have guidelines and helpful tips to help make things a lot easier and much more functional for you.
Hilary Erickson [00:01:54]:
Yeah, I will say I think anybody who’s saying how many thousands of words their kid says, it’s got to be their first kid. Because by number two, I was just like, I don’t know. I just want him to tell me what he wants so I can help the rest of these kids. Oh my God.
Lenora Edwards [00:02:06]:
That is absolutely hysterical and wildly accurate in wanting your child. What do you want? Especially when there’s two, because now you don’t have one that has your undivided specialized attention. Now you’re trying to keep two of them wrangled in the area that you’re in. So I know exactly what you mean.
Hilary Erickson [00:02:20]:
Yeah, it’s just a circus at that point. But I will say that I had one who did not talk hardly at all until past age two. And it took brother going to school for him to start to have words because I probably ignored him because the other one, he would speak for him, he would get all the attention. He was like his little translator. So as a mom, it was really hard to be like, should I be getting help? So what should parents be watching for? And what ages do we start to like, is this even on our radar?
Lenora Edwards [00:02:51]:
That’s a great question. And I love that you pointed out that your first child would talk for them, because we do see that quite often and it’s very natural, especially because now you have the older child and they get to be an authority of sorts, and that feels really good for them. And you’re also wanting to encourage their independence, but then you’re also wanting to encourage your child to talk. So when you’re having that, and when you’re working to keep that balance, a great thing to do is to voice to your older child. Thank you so much. I’m so glad that you were able to help him. Thank you so much. And really support that because we want to encourage it. But we also want to say, let’s hear what they have to say too. So let’s watch together, or let’s listen together and have that older one get on your team rather than feeling attacked because that way you’re supporting that second one, wanting to voice and learning to voice as they’re going along.
Hilary Erickson [00:03:40]:
Yes, because it’s really easy to be like, shut up, I need to listen to this other kid. Stop talking for him, you jerk, and stop opening all of his birthday presents and stop picking out what he’s going to wear.
Lenora Edwards [00:03:53]:
Absolutely. And we want to support them, but we also want to help them get boundaries. And this beautiful balance of being in parenthood is truly, truly spectacular. When your second is not talking as much to offer those opportunities, especially to nurture them at the beginning, do your best if you can get them alone at times. Now, insert the obvious of this isn’t always going to work out, but if they are there to encourage those opportunities oh, wow, I did hear you say that noise. That was great. I love hearing your voice as a speech language pathologist, especially with better speech, we all have every one of us has at least ten years experience. So when you’re in person, you have a different rapport with a little one who’s in person because they can feel your energy that you can give them high five. When you’re on Zoom with your client, it’s much more expressive, it’s much more expansive, because you’re doing your best to convey that energy through to them. So anytime parents will say that’s a little over the top, at the same time, it’s a good thing because that’s that energy, that’s that supportive nurturing, that that little voice needs to be heard more. Especially when I love that you pointed out that it’s a late talker because that he was past the age of two before he started talking. We often hear, what do I do after this? And they’re in such panic and it’s never too late. Never, never too late. Especially when that second one has these great developmental skills. There sometimes might be a developmental delay, such as a neurological component. Maybe they’re not walking yet, or maybe they’re not feeding themselves yet, that’s a different story. But when they’re typically developing and meeting these milestones, okay, great. This is where we are. Here’s where we want to go. And that’s what we do with better speech when we’re online. We teach our families and our clients how to offer opportunities to talk, but also how to make it functional in their everyday life because it’s so difficult to think, okay, now how do I apply this? Where they’re coaching these families saying, this is how you apply it so much easier. Yeah.
Hilary Erickson [00:05:50]:
So what age would you start to probably talk with your pediatrician if you’re not seeing stuff or I mean, is it kind of the two year checkup or 18 month checkup?
Lenora Edwards [00:05:59]:
I would definitely start at 18 months and notice where your child is. Children, they come into the world. And the great thing is we’re designed to understand language. So when that blessed day arrives and your little one is here, start talking and allow your little one to grow in a language rich environment. Whether that language is you speaking, whether that information going in is musical information, whether that information is going in is you reading out loud. Those are all beautiful things because we talk all the time. We’re communicating, but we’re also communicating with our bodies, with our facial expressions. So when we have those little ones, especially when they’re just born, be face to face, engage with them and offer that nurturing and that support of communication as much as possible because they’re picking up so much information. They’re picking up eye contact, they’re picking up turn taking. And your vocalization of when you’re really angry versus when you’re really soft, this is all a part of language. And our brain is pulling in all of this information and sorting it through. So it’s really important when they start cooing, they’re going to start cooing really early on and start babbling a little bit slightly later. Not on those first days, but those coups and those cries, they’re intentional communication. That’s a great thing. And what they’re doing in that intentional communication, there’s a reason you know which cry is which cry. When they’re three months, they want you to know which cry is which cry. That’s communication. That’s a great thing. As they start to coup and babble, these are vocalizations. This is a vocal play, the very wonderful thing for development. And then you’ll start to hear them have these babbling strengths of when they’re laying in the crib or they’re showing you that they’re content, whether they’re by themselves or they’re with you, that’s wonderful development. As your little one starts getting more mobile and they’re able to point and take you with them and say, this is what I want, without telling you, this is exactly what I want. That’s communication, that’s fantastic and to keep supporting that and oh, you want your cup. Okay, I’m going to go and reach up for your cup, here’s your cup. It sounds really excessive, but what you’re doing is you’re describing to them, oh, you want that? Oh, I understood that. Oh, here it is. Okay, let me pass it to you. And you’re sharing with them all of this information, and that’s really important because they communicated to you in the way that they were able to what they want and what they need. That’s great. And as they start to hit those 18 months, typically we say by one year old, they’re going to start to have one word vocabulary, and that’s going to build from that twelve month mark, they’re going to start to say their first words, or you’re getting a lot of more intentional vocalization. That’s a great thing. As they get to that two mark, they’re going to start to develop two word vocabulary. As they move into three, it’s going to go to three word vocabulary. Now what that means is that one year they’re going to go, mom, dad, help. They’re going to start to attempt to use these words phenomenal. From that one to two, it’s going to build from juice two. At two years it’s going to start to go to more juice. At three years it’s going to start to go, more juice, please. And that’s building on their vocabulary. And that’s a great thing because they’re able to communicate to you what they want and what they need.
Hilary Erickson [00:09:17]:
Yeah, and I just want to give a plug for when I had my first baby. I mean, I just felt insane because you just start to vocalize like everything and it sort of comes naturally because they’re the only person that you’re around. But I would just look at myself in the mirror and be like, you’ve lost know? Or I would be on my way to work and a fire engine would go by, no kid in the car because they’re at daycare. And I’d be like, oh, look at the fire truck, Connor. And then I’d be like, you’ve lost your mind. Poor, poor Hillary. So all of that is very normal. It’s just to be like I am talking to someone who doesn’t even care or notice. But they do. You just aren’t getting a lot of feedback. So keep doing it. You’re not insane. We’re all doing it. So important.
Lenora Edwards [00:09:58]:
It truly is. And here’s the thing. If you notice, you’re already talking to yourself inside your head. Now you’re just bringing it out into the environment. And that’s a really fun thing when you’re talking to your little one. What we often call it is narrating for them describing. I’ve also heard the word sports casting because you’re giving a play by play. Okay, I’m going to put you in your seat and we’re going to buckle it and you’re tucked in, I’m going to shut the door. And it seems excessive, but what you’re doing is you’re explaining everything to them. They come into this world completely blank they have no information and they don’t know the difference between a spoon and a pen and a cup, and they got nothing. And the important thing is to nurture that by telling them everything that you’re doing. That being said, so now you’re talking. Now you also want to offer that opportunity for them to talk. You want to start to model them early on. And as they’re making those babbles and gooes and go, you’re going to go and you’re going to model it right back. Because their brain goes, you just did what I did, or he heard me. That’s a great thing. That’s lighting up their brain, that says, I’m seen, I’m heard. I can say what I want to say and communicate what I need. That’s a phenomenal, phenomenal thing. And it’s absolutely extraordinary that we can do this.
Hilary Erickson [00:11:19]:
Yeah, it really is. When you think about it like how helpless a human baby is when they come into this world, you watch other animals and they like, get up and are eating grass. Our babies, they aren’t doing anything. Completely different ballgame they would.
Lenora Edwards [00:11:31]:
Totally different, yeah.
Hilary Erickson [00:11:32]:
So when should parents start to worry? What are the signs? I mean, it’s a conversation. You have your pediatrician on every visit after probably nine months or so, I would remember. But is that the best place to have that conversation or what do you think?
Lenora Edwards [00:11:49]:
If you have concerns. So first and foremost, especially if you have concerns and you’re rolling over at 02:00 A.m., going, good is my child doing? Is this normal? With Better Speech, we are incredibly proud to offer a complimentary consultation, which means the next business day you can speak with a speech language pathologist and actually get your questions answered. That’s an amazing thing because if you called up a clinic and said, hey, I got an order from my physician and I would like to schedule evaluation, they go, okay, great. I’m going to put you out right now. It’s March. I’m going to put you out till October and then we’ll see you in October. That’s an incredibly long time. It’s unfortunate that this is the way that health system is and that’s as a speech language pathologist field, we want more of us. That would be great. We would love to help everybody. Unfortunately, there is a waiting list just like every other physician and team that you’d need to go to in healthcare with Better speech, because we are online, we get to be there in the comfort of your own home. So in case you roll over at 02:00 A.m., you can reach us the very next business day, simply go to Betterspeech.com. Now, when you go into your physician and you’re going, I don’t know, I’m not sure. I love to encourage people to trust their instincts. If you’re not sure, allow yourself to trust yourself and say, let me just give myself peace of mind. These are guidelines. So when you hear twelve months, one year old, they should start having those words. You should start hearing that intentional speech. Twelve months, 13 months, 14 months, 15 months, that’s intentional communication. Now, whether they’re vocalizing or they’re starting to give the same sound to everything, those are red flags. We want them to be able to communicate what they want, and we want it to be intentional, but also to be an approximation. If your little one there’s a period where your little one might use for everything, and if it doesn’t stop in whatever time frame it might be, let’s just go with if they’re not starting to develop, it those intentional words within two, three months, that might be a red flag. What else are they doing? When you look at guidelines, understand that these are guidelines children will develop in their own time. And that’s why we create personalized care plans for clients. Any professional that you go to, they’re creating a personalized care plan because individuals are individuals. And that’s important to remember. When we look at guidelines, if they’re not starting to really be more clear and you’re not hearing the P sound, the B sound, the M sound, if you’re not starting to hear consistent vowel strings and that development, those are absolutely red flags. If you’re noticing your child is more quiet or shying away from certain engagements, those are absolutely red flags. If your three year old is out playing and they’re in the yard and another kid comes over and your three year old starts to go the other way, what else is going on there? Do they just not like, playing with that person? Or are they really having trouble communicating and now they’re getting aware of it? We don’t usually see that component at three, but it is possible. We do see that at four. We do see that at five. When children are aware that they don’t know how to convey to others and somebody can’t talk for them, they will start to avoid social interaction, and they will also start to show behaviors of frustration, because it’s frustrating for them. Whether they start hitting, whether they’re throwing things, it’s frustrating for them to not be able to effectively communicate. So if you have concerns, I would always, hands down, trust your instincts and reach out to a professional as soon as possible.
Hilary Erickson [00:15:28]:
Oh, that’s awesome. I love that you guys are available online, because yes, I would say that March to October might even be a speedy one right now. Interventions are just a long time away, so that’s good to know. So if you have any questions or if your pediatrician is like, wait, and you’re kind of like, I kind of don’t want to wait, something inside of me says, this could be an issue, and maybe we could resolve it pretty quickly or something like that. Yeah, I love that you guys are available.
Lenora Edwards [00:15:55]:
Absolutely. Thanks. I love that you pointed that out, especially because when you don’t know. You as a parent, you don’t know what you don’t know. Just like my field is speech pathology, I know nothing about pharmaceuticals. I’m not going to encourage people to just run into the grocery store, talk to the people that are experts within that field, and also trust your instincts because people around you might say, oh, you’re overreacting. Oh, you don’t know this. I’ve heard this thousands of times. People told me not to come, but I’m so glad I reached out to a professional thousands and thousands of times. If you’re feeling those instincts that say, you know what? Just even worst case scenario, my own peace of mind. Trust your instincts and reach out to a professional.
Hilary Erickson [00:16:39]:
Yeah, awesome. I love it. And I will have your site link, but it’s just what’s the URL betterspeech.com. Yeah, super easy. All normal words, people.
Lenora Edwards [00:16:50]:
So we’re over 150 speech language pathologists strong, and we’re throughout the entire US. And we’re also international, and we’re there on your schedule. And it’s something that we are incredibly proud of because right now, I live in one state. I live in Pennsylvania, but I am licensed in five states, and I get to work with clients in Colorado that I would have never worked with because we’re using technology to our advantage. Yeah.
Hilary Erickson [00:17:13]:
And kids are more I think a lot of us are like, well, how could you do it on the computer? But I think our kids are going to be wired and maybe come wired being able to do stuff on the computer that maybe we are reticent that we would much rather do in person. They can adapt to it probably better than we can completely.
Lenora Edwards [00:17:29]:
And with the pandemic, it completely changed the game. On telehealth. It was something that was coming along, and the Pandemic was something that catapulted into, oh, we’ll get there, to we need it right now. And we’ve been online since long before the Pandemic, so we’re really comfortable already on Zoom and engaging on our platform. But because of that, people really had to start getting acclimated to telehealth services. And thankfully, thankfully, we have the technology that supports that.
Hilary Erickson [00:17:58]:
Yeah, okay. We’ve been talking about little kids, but sometimes your kids like an AOK communicator, but they get into school and you’re kind of like they say whatever in a different way. I had a kid who had a lisp, and he wanted to be a thesbian, and so when he tried out for something and he didn’t get a role, I said, well, you could always ask the teacher if it had to do with how you talk. And he was like, what? And I was like, well, you talk different than other people. And so he talked with her, and she actually helped him get some intervention at school, which was really nice. He only needed something small. But what can people do if they have a school age kid? Do schools a lot of times I don’t know if what we had is normal or if schools probably are super overwhelmed, per the usual.
Lenora Edwards [00:18:41]:
The nice thing is that often in the school system there is and better speech does do zoom therapy online in school systems. But the nice thing is that early childhood care providers, your teachers, your staff that are there in the interim when a parent or guardian can’t be there, whether it’s a daycare or another program of some sort, these people are trained to also say something isn’t quite right. They don’t know what it is, but they’ve seen enough children to say something isn’t quite right. And they will actually refer to the speech language pathologist that may be within the school system. Ideally, depending on the school program, ideally you have one that’s in the facility, and especially when they’re state run state schools, or not even state schools, public schools, that this is a requirement that they have a speech language pathologist. So for the teacher to say, you know what? Something isn’t quite right, and if you’re not sure to the parent or guardian, again, you don’t know what you don’t know. And that’s okay. There’s so much going on with your child, it’s perfectly perfect to not know every last thing. Reach out to your teacher and say, hey, what do you think about their reading skills? Hey, what do you think has their speech? What do you notice? How are they interacting with other children within the classroom? Because you’re not there as the parent or guardian and the teachers are there. And I’ve run into many, many teachers who are more than willing to say, hey, this is what I noticed with so and so. Hey, I just want to make you aware, these are people that we are employing to say, watch over my child and keep me posted on how they’re doing. That’s an amazing thing that we actually are able to provide in this country. So if you’re not sure how they’re doing, reach out to the teachers and say, can you let me know? Or call up the school, I would like my child assessed. Or you can call up better speech and say, hey, just for my own peace of mind, something’s going on. I don’t know. Can you double check? Because these developmental norms you might have a five year old who’s still saying wed and rabbit for red and rabbit developmentally, using that W instead of an R, completely appropriate, totally appropriate. And if you’re now having an eight year old that’s still saying wed and Wabbit or wick for brick, those are no longer developmentally appropriate. But that’s okay. That you don’t know. That where the staff that are around your child, the caregivers that are around your child are listening and are going, something isn’t quite right, let me make a referral. And to be able to get those speech therapy services are truly important because we’re starting to get to ages where children might not be so nice all the time. And as heartbreaking as it is, it’s an unfortunate thing that we experience is bullying and getting that social interaction and disconnect. My friend doesn’t want to talk to me because I have a list. It’s truly important to reach out for speech therapy services when you’re noticing whether it’s an articulation component or another one that we notice. They might have their words beautifully, but they can’t tell me a story. They can’t tell me what they did over the weekend. They’re missing other information. And that is something that we also specialize in. If your child can’t remember the characters of a story, they watched a movie and they can’t tell you what the story is about, those are red flags. And if they’re going, I don’t know, of which they will often say, I don’t know. It’s true because they don’t know how to answer the question. It’s important that you reach out to a speech language pathologist and say my child isn’t talking much. As in, they can talk, but I’m missing a lot of information. They cannot tell me what they did in their day. They can’t tell me who they played with outside and what they did. So it’s really important to reach out to a speech language pathologist. Yeah.
Hilary Erickson [00:22:17]:
And you can do it at school. But if it’s not at school I love that you guys have the option that you can reach out to you guys and get an idea. But I also love reaching out to a teacher because a lot of times as a parent, you’re just used to them saying wed and habit. That’s what they’ve always done because that’s your kid. But the teacher gets them brand new in the fall and they’re like, well, no, everyone else has moved on since kindergarten. And we’re all saying ours. And they can tell you that. Now, I will say that if you have a super high functioning kid, a lot of times they won’t mention it because they’re like, your kid’s doing fine, otherwise they’re socializing fine. But if you have any red flags, a lot of times when you’re at the parent teacher conference or you shoot them an email a lot of times they will be like yeah, I did notice that, but I hadn’t brought it up to you because I am a teacher. So overwhelmed with 4000 things in my life.
Lenora Edwards [00:23:05]:
Completely. That too. So the nice thing is, especially some people will say they’ll come online and they’ll say my mother in law pointed this out. And I’m like, So, you know, this isn’t a judgment on you. This is simply where we are. And a lot of the time parents are thinking that they did something wrong, my child. They can’t say their V sounds. Oh my gosh. I’m like, Nothing you did wrong. You are always doing your best. This is simply where we are, and let’s figure out where we need to go. And reminding parents and guardians that it’s okay, that it’s okay, that they didn’t meet every marker under the sun and oh, my God, we’re trying to keep up with so much in this culture, but to really be able to work one on one with somebody and say it’s okay, here are techniques, here are tools, here’s where we’re going to go. They really understand. Not only does that child understand that they’re important and that they’re seen and that they’re heard, but the family recognizes, oh, okay, I didn’t do anything wrong. Right? Oh, okay. And that’s so important because we’re just constantly in our head. Nobody’s fault.
Hilary Erickson [00:24:06]:
Yeah. I think especially with the mother in law or that mom in your playgroup mentions something you’re like, you instantly feel like, I did something wrong, I ruined them already. And I will say, mine does not have that celisp anymore. So just like, three sessions in, he fixed it and you don’t hear it anymore, but he had a real funny voice up until probably junior high, so way to go.
Lenora Edwards [00:24:30]:
You’ve got a nava.
Hilary Erickson [00:24:32]:
Yeah. So I think this is so good, and I think a lot of people just kind of ignore it and hope it will go away. But I love that there are some great interventions out there, be it at school or with your better speech. That’s such a great option. I don’t think you guys realize what a great option that is because we were even with Kaiser and we had to go to audiology for I think we had ear tubes in too long and it was still like, six months out with an integrated medicine group.
Lenora Edwards [00:24:59]:
Yeah, it’s absolutely a long time when that happens, especially even if you’re looking for early intervention or within the school system. And there are times where within the school system, because they’re not delayed enough, there’s not enough of a problem. They might not technically qualify for services, and it’s very unfortunate. So let’s say you have a standard deviation of 85 to 115, and that’s within functional limits. If your child is marking at an 84 or an 83, technically there is a delay or even if they’re on the lower end, but they might go does, but he doesn’t qualify for services within the school system. And I’ve seen it happen, and it’s very upsetting. But the nice thing is that, A, you can still get therapy services covered. You just have to do it in a different avenue and with better speech. We do accept insurance, and we also provide what we like to refer to as a super bill, which is all this important information that you can then turn to your insurance company and get taken care of. And we’re at home with you. Sometimes within the school system, you might not have the time to communicate with the speech language pathologist because you’re working and they’re working, and then by the time. That you both get to the end of the day, you’re on totally different shifts, whereas with better speech, online speech therapy, we’re in the comfort of your own home. We get to be right where you are, where you’re most comfortable on your schedule, and we also get to teach you the techniques for you to practice during the week, whether you work with a speech pathologist for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, whatever the case may be, we’re there for that period of time. Our intention, our goal, is to also teach the family what to do, and we have clients that record our therapy sessions, and then we’ll show the nanny or the babysitter or the grandparent, whoever it is. That way we have continuity of care, and it’s ongoing, so that way when you hear certain things, you’re like, oh, okay, this is how I can shift it. Here’s how I can work this into my day.
Hilary Erickson [00:26:44]:
Oh, I love that you can record it because that’s so important. I think this kid did so well of mine because he was highly motivated to change the lisp himself, so he worked on it a lot when he was just alone by himself. So that’s awesome, though, if you could do it with your nanny or your daycare, and you can let them know, because a lot of times they’re like, I would like to help, but they aren’t trained in it either.
Lenora Edwards [00:27:05]:
So we’re incredibly proud of that. So we do our best to be there where you are at the time that’s most helpful and convenient for you and your family.
Hilary Erickson [00:27:12]:
Yeah. And the other good thing is, what your kid doesn’t need, especially if they’re behind in other areas, is to miss school in addition to going to speech therapy.
Lenora Edwards [00:27:20]:
So then you can do it after. Yeah.
Hilary Erickson [00:27:22]:
All right. This is an awesome option, and I think it’s important for parents to keep an eye out for not stress about we don’t need you stressing that you have a six month old that doesn’t have 20 words like your neighbor down the block. They’re lying to you. Okay, first off, people are lying to you. They are, because their word is like, DA for cup. Right thing.
Lenora Edwards [00:27:43]:
Their word could be DA for 20 things in house.
Hilary Erickson [00:27:47]:
Yeah.
Lenora Edwards [00:27:47]:
All right.
Hilary Erickson [00:27:48]:
Thanks for coming on, Lenora.
Lenora Edwards [00:27:49]:
Thank you so much for having me. It was great spending time with you guys.
Hilary Erickson [00:27:52]:
I can’t tell you how grateful I am for technology, because this really is an issue, because speech issues just happen in kids, and we’re not causing it. First off, I loved that part of the interview. But also being able to work on it right away with something like better speech is such a gift to the world. So I want to thank Lenora for coming on. If you guys have any questions, definitely check out her website. It looks like it’s pretty affordable if you don’t have insurance like me, or you’re on like a high deductible plan where you’re never going to hit it. Check it out, though, because even just a few sessions where they give you some tools to work on it on your own can be a real gift for your kid.
Also, stay tuned because next week we are talking about who can deliver your baby, like in the hospital. That is a question I get from a lot of different people. And then the week after that, I’m talking about my favorite place to get organizing supplies. So some good episodes coming up.
Thanks for joining us on the Pulling Curls podcast today. If you liked today’s episode, please consider review, viewing, sharing, subscribing. It really helps our podcast grow. Thank you.
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