All About Speech Therapy

[Jtutor]

Hi Three Cs,


My girl used to attend Leapfrog ST sessions once a wk when she was 2yr+. After abt 6 mths we stopped the sessions due mainly to cost reason and also the lack of much progress for my girl. They changed the speech therapist twice so I can't remember their names.
Thereafter we approached KKH for assistance and we realized the long waiting time for each session. Fortunately they recommended us to try checking with a few centers and we chose SPD@Tiong Bahru. Each session is more affordable at $60+ for 45mins. Initially we started with weekly sessions and now my girl is attending monthly sessions at the advice of the ST. My girl is now 4yr+ and she has improved a lot

You may wish to check with KKH for other cheaper alternatives. I'm sure your child will grow up to be happy and chirpy like mine. All the best!

[Heythere]

Hi im also looking for a speech tutor. Can you share the contact with me too?

[Rosey02]

Hello!

I ran across this thread about speech therapist… I know of a great home-based speech therapy program, but they serve currently within the Klang Valley, Malaysia. If you or anyone you know is looking for speech therapy for your child in that location, I can get more info!

[keenDaddy]

I know of Kidspace Learning Place located at the old fire station at upper bukit timah offering speech therapy. Heard that their fees is lower than most private therapists and the therapist is experienced with children, can engage them. You might want to check them out.

[jimyee4]

My son attended classes with Speech Inc, Yitian, based at Forum Shopping. She charges $170 per hour. She is very experienced and has a masters in Speech. My son was with her for over 3 years and found her to be very effective. She is not cheap, can be quite firm with parents (some do not like her style) but the firm approach works in the long run, which I found to my son’s benefit. She is totally booked up though.

[LinTin29]

I am very sorry to say but I would like to disagree with jimyee4. My tod boy was with Speech Inc. Yi Tian for a few sessions, and I stopped the therapy with her last year. My tod boy was in tears while I am beside him during the lessons.


I find the therapist lack the patience and the skills in getting young toddlers to open up to them. Yi Tian will raise her voice and sometimes flare up if my tod boy do not respond to her nor her question. I remembered her being very defensive and angry when I feedbacked to her at the end of the 1st lesson. I regretted bringing my tod to Yi Tian though I saw her names on the post.

( I lately heard from other mothers and OT that Ms. yi tian posts her name as a great therapist on various autism site, pretending to be a current/former patient at her place and emphasizing her effectiveness and importance of \"long term\" commitment to her therapy.)

After that disastrous therapist, we decided to give it a try at dynamics for OT and ST. We saw some progress in 6 month. We've been very happy with his progress and he's happy to go there.

Also, I heard about this therapist (Germaine) lately and might try for additional trainings. She use specialized creative music programs for developmental delays and special needs. http://www.taramusicstudio.com/

[ArielMermaid]

With regards to Yitian from Speech Inc., my son attends her social class for the past 2-3 years and enjoys it very much. She is frank in her feedback and gives us many effective tips on how to improve the behaviour and social skills of our kids in different settings.


Given what we know about her, I can’t imagine her posing as current/ former patients and posting praises about herself.

[RoseyMcmchon]

I am not sure about the rumor that ST of speech inc actually is the one posting praises about herself but I heard speech therapist (private practice) often ask parents to advertise their service on autism/development issue forum.


i have explored 4 speech therapists - kkh, speech inc, Bridges in com and leapfrog.

I felt ST at Kkh was friendly but not so experienced. yitian at speech inc was very fierce who will take no nonsense from a crying kid. went for 8 sessions with yitian speechinc but I just did not see improvement. (it was not cheap at all…) ST at Bridges in communication (forgot her name but UK trained) was very dedicated and experienced with autism kids, but wait for the ST at Bridges was long at the time, so I decided to try another place. michelle at leapfrog was the best fit for my boy. I saw improvement in 8 months. she was very firm but patient with my boy. I also heard other ST at leapfrog was as effective as michelle so if my second kid needs any speech therapy, I would take her there.

[MelodyMelody]

Michelle at Leapfrog did the ST for your boy? When was that?

She stopped ST about 2-3 years back. She hired therapist from the EPIC centres then to conduct the OT and ST. Leapfrog also discouraged people engaging other services from other provider, citing they do not guarantee result. At least this is what they told me at that time.

A good therapist for one child might mean the opposite for another child. Parents are kind enough to share all the recommendations. We all know the industry is expanding. It is expanding in such a way that therapist that are on the list of well down PDs are actually selecting their patient (the child). We parents probably know best what style work best for the child, so keep that in mind when we choose the therapist, and be willing to communicate and be open with the therapist while ourselves also learned along the way.

If you know the no-nonsense my way or no way therapist is not your type to work together or for your child, then no matter how many "hope stories " that you have heard on the forum or other mummies, ignore it and believe in your instinct as a mum. You may be wrong, may not be, but you make the best choice to your knowledge.

If you know that your child work best with therapist that have a firm style and you prefer the kind and soft type of therapist, then perhaps it is time to learn to get along with the therapist and learn to get comfortable this is just another way of learning.

Get a trial section or even during the assessment, we may find out more about the therapist than "hear say". It is definitely very tiring to find the suitable therapist or keep changing to find the suitable one. Maybe can try to find the one that work the better (not the best) in bringing out the child’s potential.

[DesertWind]

Agree with Melody!


Rosey, you are lucky then to have Michelle doing ST personally for your kid. We went to her for an initial assessment and found her quite nice. However, we were informed my boy was then not yet ready to do ST so we deferred.

Right now, we found a home-based Speech Therapist for my boy and she has been working with my boy for the past 6 months.