Speech Therapy
Speech-language therapy for NYC students, from licensed SLPs.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work on more than speech sounds. They help a student build the language to follow a lesson, ask a question, make friends, and take part in class. We place licensed SLPs against the goals in a student's IEP or IESP, cover articulation through social communication, and keep the sessions on schedule and documented.
Six areas speech therapy covers
“Speech therapy” covers several areas. A school SLP may work on how a sound is made, how a sentence is built, how to hold a conversation, or how a child communicates when talking is hard. The evaluation and the plan decide which.
- Articulation & phonology: producing sounds clearly enough to be understood
- The speech-language pathologist works with a child on how specific speech sounds are made, guided by what the evaluation found.
- Expressive language: the words, sentences, and grammar to say what you mean
- Sessions give a child practice using words, building sentences, and applying grammar to express meaning, aimed at the goals written in the plan.
- Receptive language: understanding what's said, following directions, answering questions
- This work centers on making sense of words and directions, with practice tied to the language demands of lessons and the classroom.
- Fluency: stuttering and the rhythm of speech
- When a child stutters, the SLP works on fluency against the goals in the IEP or IESP, at the frequency and group size the mandate sets.
- Social (pragmatic) language: taking turns, reading cues, holding a conversation
- The SLP practices taking turns in conversation with a child, sometimes in a small group or in the classroom during lessons.
- Feeding & AAC: swallowing support and augmentative/alternative communication for non-speaking students
- For a child who finds talking hard, the SLP supports other ways to communicate, and the evaluation and the plan decide whether feeding work is included.
What a speech-language evaluation involves
Before goals are written, the SLP looks at how a child speaks, understands, and communicates in class and in everyday settings, as well as in testing.
Pick any part of the sentence to see the detail.
The SLP gathers developmental and medical history from the family and pulls input from teachers about how the child communicates in class.
A mix of standardized tests and play-based, conversational observation samples articulation, language, and social communication, because a score alone doesn't show how a child functions.
The SLP interprets the results to distinguish, say, a speech-sound error from a broader language disorder, and identifies the areas that most affect learning.
Findings become measurable goals and a recommended session frequency, the basis for the mandate the school team writes into the plan.
- Measurable goals, written from the findings
- A recommended frequency, the basis for the mandate on the plan
How speech goals change between ages 1 and 11
The same discipline serves a not-yet-talking toddler and a fourth-grader who stutters. The system a child is in, and the goals, shift with age.
- Early Intervention (birth–3)
- Delivered on the IFSP under NYS Early Intervention, usually at home. The focus is emerging communication: first words, gestures, imitation, and understanding, with heavy caregiver coaching so language grows in daily routines.
- Preschool / CPSE (3–5)
- Recommended through the Committee on Preschool Special Education, in a preschool or agreed setting. Goals move toward sentences, following classroom directions, early social language, and speech clarity before kindergarten.
- School-age (5–21)
- Tied to the IEP or IESP, aimed at the language demands of school: comprehension, expression, fluency, and the social communication that makes group work and friendships possible.
Pull-out, push-in, or teletherapy: matched to the goal.
Some goals are best worked on in a quiet room away from the class (pull-out); others work better inside the classroom, where the SLP supports the child during lessons and coaches the teacher (push-in). For some families and schedules, secure teletherapy is the right fit. We match a licensed SLP and the delivery model the goal calls for, including bilingual providers when a child is served in more than one language.
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IEP, IESP, or an RSA voucher, and what each means for you
How a speech mandate is documented determines who pays and where the service is delivered. Three routes cover most NYC students.
- IEP
- For a student in a public school, speech is written into the IEP and delivered by the district.
- IESP
- For a student attending a private or parochial school, the same service is written into an IESP, an Individualized Education Services Program, so the child still receives publicly funded speech therapy without leaving their school. This IESP population is a core part of who we serve.
- RSA or P3 voucher
- When a district can't provide a mandated service directly, it may issue an RSA (a Related Service Authorization, sometimes called a voucher) that lets the family secure the service from an approved independent provider, at no cost to them. We accept RSA/P3 authorizations, match a licensed SLP, and handle the billing back to the DOE so families never pay out of pocket for a service their child is owed.
How we fill a speech mandate
With an IEP, an IESP, or an RSA voucher, a first session can be scheduled quickly once the paperwork is clear.
Pick any part of the sentence to see the detail.
We confirm the frequency, group size, and language on the IEP/IESP, or take the details from your RSA/P3 authorization.
- Speech-language therapy
- 2 times a week, 30 minutes
- Individual
- In English
An example of the line we confirm. The real values come from your child's own plan or authorization.
We match a licensed speech-language pathologist to the goals, the age, the setting, and the language.
We build the schedule, start progress data from session one, and keep the record ready for the annual review.
What parents ask about speech services
How do I know if my child needs speech therapy?
That's what an evaluation determines. Common signs parents notice are speech that's hard to understand past the expected age, a small vocabulary or trouble putting words together, difficulty following directions, stuttering, or trouble with the back-and-forth of conversation. If you have those concerns, we can help arrange a speech-language evaluation; if a plan already mandates speech, we fill it.
My child is in a private or religious school. Can they still get speech services?
Yes. Publicly funded speech therapy for a student in a private or parochial school is written into an IESP (Individualized Education Services Program) rather than an IEP, and can be delivered at the child's school. Serving IESP students is a core part of our work. The family doesn't have to choose between their school and the services their child is entitled to.
What's the difference between a speech delay and a language disorder?
A speech (or articulation) issue is about producing sounds clearly: being understood. A language disorder is broader: understanding words and directions (receptive) or using words, grammar, and sentences to express meaning (expressive). A child can have one or both. The SLP's evaluation distinguishes them so the goals target the right thing.
What is an RSA or P3 voucher, and do you accept it?
When a district can't provide a mandated related service directly, it can issue a Related Service Authorization (RSA), sometimes handled as a P3 letter, that lets you obtain the service from an approved independent provider at no cost. We accept RSA/P3 authorizations, match a licensed SLP, and bill the DOE directly so you're never out of pocket.
Do you offer teletherapy or bilingual providers?
Yes to both, where they fit the child. Secure teletherapy works well for some goals and schedules, and we match bilingual SLPs when a student is served in more than one language. We choose the delivery model and provider to fit the goal.
How often will my child be seen, and in a group or one-on-one?
Frequency and group size are set by the IEP/IESP team, not by us. A mandate might read, for example, two 30-minute sessions a week, individually or in a small group. We deliver what the mandate sets, document each session, and feed the progress reporting the school relies on at review time.
How fast can speech services start?
Once the mandate and paperwork (or the RSA/P3) are confirmed, we match from our provider network. Timelines vary by borough, language, and caseload, but our coordination team treats an unserved mandate with urgency and responds to every inquiry within 24 hours.
See SETSS, Early Intervention, or call (718) 540-8268.
If your child's speech sessions keep getting missed
- The school says it has no speech therapist, and weeks are going by.
- NYC Public Schools says that when it has no therapist of its own or from a contract agency, it gives the family a voucher called an RSA. You can ask the parent coordinator where that stands. Once you have the RSA, call us and we will look at matching a licensed speech-language pathologist to it.
- The IEP says speech in Spanish, and nobody has a bilingual therapist.
- Under an RSA, bilingual speech has to come from a licensed speech-language pathologist who also meets the city's bilingual requirement, so the language written on the plan matters. Tell us that language when you call. We match bilingual providers when a student is served in more than one language.
- What happens to all the sessions my child already missed?
- That is not ours to decide, but you can ask: keep a dated list of missed sessions and put a request about make-up services in writing to the school or your CSE. Advocates for Children of New York runs a helpline that explains a family's options. We can help with sessions going forward.
- The speech page of the IEP or IESP
- Your RSA letter, if you have one
- Language of service written on the plan
- Sessions per week, length and group size
- Dates of sessions missed so far
You can call without all of these. We will work out the rest with you.
More therapies
Request a speech provider
Tell us the school or the setting and what the plan calls for. Our coordination team treats unserved mandates with urgency and responds within 24 hours, typically within 4–6 hours.
