Toddler speech therapist

My daughter had a speech delay around the same age and we took her to Speech, Inc in Oakland. We saw Tanya Loker and she was FANTASTIC! Very experienced, patient, engaging, and made speech therapy fun for my daughter. My daughter is now 3 and won't stop talking ;)  Here's their website: https://www.speechinc.com/home Hope this helps!

I also have Kaiser and voiced concerns at my girls 18 month visit that she wasn't really saying anything, just making noises. They asked if she could name 5 objects, she couldn't. She knew what I was talking about and what things were called, but would never speak the words. They told me if she wasn't speaking by her 24 mo visit they would be concerned. Sure enough, around 22 months she started talking no stop and became quite the chatterbox, now she is 26 mo and knows sooooo many words. After talking to other moms about this, it can be pretty normal to talk a bit later. Anyway, not sure if that's your situation. Good luck!

The Scottish Rite center in Oakland had a speech pathology program at one time, as I took my preschool aged son there 15 years ago. They initially told me the wait list was 6 to 12 months long. I put my name down, and then a time slot opened up within a month or two. They were helpful and accepted donations in lieu of payment. 

I can’t say I have experience with them personally, but one of my close friends is a speech pathologist at SPEECH, Inc. They have 2 locations-one in Oakland and one in SF. She has worked there for years and loves it. They have experience with very young kids. 

I think I understand your concern about your son's delayed speech but the milestones are general averages and some children, often boys, do take longer to speak.   Does he seem to understand everything?   I don't want to be dismissive of your concerns but I want to encourage you to be patient for awhile longer and let him develop at his own pace.    Has Kaiser not been helpful because they think it's too early for him to do speech therapy?   Their pediatrics are excellent so I'd try to listen to them, as hard as it is.    

Contact your school district and find out how old he needs to be to get accessed for an IEP. My son had an IEP and got speech services through the school district special ed program before he started kindergarten. Good job getting on this early.

Our daughter received speech therapy at the Scottish Rite Temple. They have been providing this service for many years. Excellent

Hi
I have the same situation with another insurance. All the therapist for some reason are overbooked
I recommend you to contact to the Regional Center and work with both
Also ask your insurance if you can find your own therapist and they pay it

My child got an evaluation from a Kaiser speech therapist at 18 months because he wasn't talking yet. Because he didn't have any other developmental delays and had excellent receptive language, we concluded he was probably just a late talker. Kaiser offered us a few sessions and the Regional Center was an option too, but I passed. A few months later he started talking and caught up. Your pediatrician should give you a referral, but unless you have other concerns about your son, he probably doesn't need speech therapy at this point.

You have to be pushy with Kaiser. My kid is in similar situation. This was my process:

- bring up speech delay at regular pediatrician appointments

- 15 months we did developmental screening test, ie filled out a form that went to developmental pediatrician 

- developmental pediatrician results said Speech Delay: “take communication with your toddler class,” you may consider contacting RCEB (regional center), don’t hesitate to call us. Do all 3! You want the person at Kaiser to admit you can get a Kaiser speech therapy eval without taking the class & waiting. Get Kaiser speech eval scheduled. Be firm! The class was shockingly useful. Make sure to have your kid do Kaiser speech evals cranky. 

- through RCEB get evals - if your kid qualifies for RCEB speech therapy, be vague about it to Kaiser. You want as much out of Kaiser as possible.