When Bat-El noticed that her oldest daughter struggled to articulate words at age 3, she suspected her little one could have some speech issues. A screening in kindergarten confirmed her concerns, and her daughter was recommended for speech therapy.

Bat-El admits she panicked at first, thinking about the extra cost of therapy sessions. But after taking someone’s advice to call JCFS Chicago, her worries were quickly alleviated.

“The whole process was so smooth and easy,” she said. “I had to pick up the phone and say, ‘hi I need a speech therapist for my daughter,’ and someone got back to me very quickly and asked me all the right questions.”

That initial conversation was an intake meeting, where a JCFS Integrated Pediatric Therapies (IPT) staff member gathered all the necessary information from Bat-El regarding her daughter’s speech issues. They also collected insurance information, and Bat-El learned that the cost of speech therapy sessions was quite affordable.

Bat-El took her daughter to the Abe & Ida Cooper Center in West Rogers Park, and she said the location was not only convenient, but it had resources for her and her other children to use while her daughter was in therapy.

She said her daughter thrived in speech therapy, and her therapist, Valerie Steinhauser Seiffe, was professional and kept her up to date on her daughter’s progress.

“My daughter’s experience was very positive,” Bat-El said. “We noticed improvement very fast. She enjoyed her sessions, and it felt more like an after-school activity and less like therapy.”

Bat-El’s second daughter also benefitted from speech therapy through IPT, plus her sessions could be conveniently scheduled right after her sister’s appointments.

Jennie Marble, Director of Integrated Pediatric Therapies, said that in addition to speech sounds and intelligibility, speech-language pathologists can also help with feeding intervention, problem solving and planning, and executive functioning skills that relate to learning and processing language.

“Being able to communicate and understand the world around us impacts so much of our interactions, including academics, social interaction and being able to advocate for your needs,” Jennie said. “So, it’s always great to have a check-in, or to have some intervention to support an individual as they are developing if there are any concerns. If you’re not sure, feel free to reach out to our team to find out if an evaluation would be appropriate.”

Bat-El’s advice to parents who have concerns about their child’s speech is to “Call JCFS. Use your community. JCFS will accommodate with your days and your hours, and locations are accessible. If you need any kind of family services or therapeutic services, it’s the place to go.”

IPT has immediate openings for speech-language evaluations and intervention for children from infants to teens, at both our West Rogers Park and Northbrook locations. Email IPI@JCFS.org or call 847.412.4335 to schedule an appointment.