Here are some questions Speech Language Pathologists are asked, and hopefully some helpful answers!

  • Where are you located?
    KidSpeak offers therapy services in a home office setting in the Kenwood Park area of Bethesda.  We also have been providing teletherapy services since 2016 to clients in Florida, California, Maryland, Virginia and DC.

  • How often will my child need to come to speech therapy?
    How often a client comes to speech therapy depends on what type of challenges he or she is experiencing, as well as the severity of those challenges. Typically, clients come once or twice a week for individual 45 minute sessions.  Younger children (toddlers-5 years) may have shorter 30 minute sessions.

  • What causes speech, language, literacy or myofunctional problems; is it my fault?
    We don’t know for sure what causes speech, language, literacy and myofunctional problems. It could be as simple as having a lot of ear infections when young or the speech/language problems could be a symptom of a larger problem. Sometimes myofunctional challenges can be caused by tongue resting posture or compromised airway (sinus issues, etc.) Regardless, it is NOT your fault.

  • How do I know if my child has a speech-language delay?
    If your child doesn’t talk as much as children his/her own age, the problem may be a speech-language delay. Your doctor or teacher may be concerned about a speech-language delay if your child does NOT do the following: Say simple words clearly or unclearly at 12-15 months, understand words like “no” or “stop” by 18 months of age, talk in short sentences by 3 years of age, or tell a simple story at 4-5 years of age.  If a late elementary school (or older) child has a persistent /s/ or /r/ error (especially after intervention), then it could suggest that there is some myofunctional challenge as well.

  • Please review the chart of Developmental Speech & Language Milestones below. 
    If your child is demonstrating difficulty with any of those skills, they may need speech and/or language therapy.  Children develop speech/language skills at different rates.  Sometimes siblings within the same family develop speech and language skills at a different rate than their brothers and sisters.  This does not mean that there is a problem, but a screening of your child’s skills can determine if further evaluation is needed.

  • What ages do you serve?
    Toddlers through high school-age, generally.  But I see some adults also for Myofunctional Therapy.

  • What are the areas of difficulty?
    There are several areas that a speech-language pathologist will explore/evaluate:

    • Speech mechanism. The mouth, tongue, nose, breathing and how they are co-ordinated and operated by muscles.  This includes myofunctional assessment when necessary.
    • Phonology. The sounds that make up language.
    • Syntax and grammar. The way that words and parts of words combine in phrases or sentences.
    • Semantics. The meaning of sentences words and bits of words.
    • Pragmatics. How language is used in different situations and how feelings are conveyed.
    • Intonation and stress. The rhythm and music of the way we speak.
    • Literacy. Skills related to reading, including phonological awareness, sound awareness, decoding, encoding and writing.
  • Will my insurance company pay for speech therapy?
    Yes, some insurance plans will cover therapy. We are NOT in-network providers for any plans. We will provide you with a “superbill” billing statement with applicable procedure and diagnosis codes for you to submit to your insurance plan for reimbursement. Every insurance plan is different, and some plans may reimburse a certain number of visits. You may also be able to see us as an out-of-network provider. Please check with your specific plan to obtain additional information about reimbursement.

  • What other options are available to help with payment of services?
    You may be able to arrange coverage through an employee “cafeteria” plan. Under such plans, some employers offer the option to select a benefit other than traditional health insurance to reimburse additional medical expenses not usually covered by insurance, such as out of pocket expenses and deductibles. Reimbursement may be determined by IRS guidelines.

    You may also be able to use a “Health Savings Account”, or HSA, in which you pay into a family savings account using pre-tax income, for items not covered by traditional insurance, and then receive reimbursement after filing the receipts or invoices. Please check with your employer about the plans available to you.

    Since 2005, the IRS has allowed a deduction for medical expenses. In Publication 502 (Medical and Dental Expenses), under the topic “Special Education”, it states, “You can include in medical expenses fees you pay on a doctor’s recommendation for a child’s tutoring by a teacher who is specially trained and qualified to work with children who have learning disabilities caused by mental or physical impairments, including nervous system disorders.” For this deduction, you need a doctor’s recommendation and the fees (which can be combined with other medical expenses) must total more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

    Tax laws often change, so please check the current IRS regulations. The information provided above is NOT intended as professional or legal advice, but it is worth looking into! For more information visit: http://www.irs.gov

  • When do I pay for therapy services?
    We require payment at the time of service.  All accounts have a credit card saved to the billing software and charges for sessions will be applied after a session has been provided.

  • What types of payment do you accept?
    We currently accept cash, check, credit cards, bank accounts, VENMO or PayPal.