How do you know when you need physical therapy?

My son is lagged with talking. I need to know how many speech therapy normally need to go?

• My 2 yr and 4 months old son is lagged with talking. He says only about 8-12 words very clearly. We have organized for a hearing test as well next week. He looks frustrated sometimes when he can't explain something. We think he is bit lagged with talking. He needs some speech therapy to move forward . I am pretty sure he will be a chatter box soon. I want to know normally how many therapy lessons we have to take him

• Answer:

  In our state, we have a program called birth to three that comes in the home to provide speech and other therapy services free of charge if a child qualifies after an evaluation. Right before their 3rd bday, they can be tested in our public school system and if they qualify they can continue therapy services in the schools free of charge, even if they don't attend school because of their age. We have parents who bring their child in for therapy services only. You should definately check with your peditrician or special ed department at the public schools board of education to ask about these services. If your child is only saying 8 to 12 words ands hes 2, I would get him an articulation and expressive language eval as soon as possible. As for how many sessions your child will need, that answer is different for each child. I have seen children correct all their sounds in a few months and then I've had children who have been in for years. It depends on the child, the severity of their speech and language delay, carryover support at home, among other things. However, I can say we see more success with children who had therapy at an early age vs those who recieved therapy later on in life (unless their sounds were developmental at that time). Good luck. Hope this helps.