Kindergarten is the cut off for children waiting for public speech-language therapy
Private speech-language therapy costs time and money, says mom
The clock is ticking for parents of young children requiring speech-language therapy in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Seventy speech-language pathologists (SLP) are handling cases on a full-time basis, with an additional seven SLPs working casually for Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services in eastern Newfoundland.
Eleven of those work in child development — the unit where most children on the province's waitlist for speech-language assessments and treatment sit.
Kelsey Oake, who lives in Triton, N.L., says her three-year-old son, Rhett, has been waiting for speech-language therapy and an autism assessment since he was 18 months old.
"We started noticing that he had traits of autism," Oake said. "We kind of tried to be proactive."
Now, she said, Rhett is three, and in the fall of 2027 he will start kindergarten.
That means Oake has 26 months for her son to be diagnosed and receive treatment before he will age out of the public health-care system's waitlist for speech-language therapy.
Oake already waited up to 14 months for an initial speech-language evaluation, she said.
Now her son has to wait up to 20 months for treatment and up to 31 months for an autism assessment.
If Rhett starts school without any treatment, Oake expects her son to struggle.
"From what I've gathered, from other people who have similar situations, is that without a proper diagnosis he won't have support aids in school," Oake said. "My son has a form of aggression issues. Like if he ends up doing that towards other children, there won't be like an IRT or student support there with him."
Oake said her only option to guarantee her son additional support is to go through the private system for treatment and a diagnosis, but she doesn't have insurance and can't afford it out of pocket.
"It's a very hefty bill. I know some places offer payment plans, which is wonderful for people who are in my situation. But, like, I don't feel that a mother or anybody who's in my situation should have to literally bring themselves to the brink of bankruptcy just to get their child seen," she said.
Paying out of pocket
Amelia Hickey knows the struggle of paying for private care. Her four-year-old daughter has autism. She receives speech-language therapy privately — a decision Hickey made to ensure her daughter gets treatment before starting kindergarten in 2026.
"We are fortunate we have health insurance. However, it's June, and our health insurance maxed out last month, which means that we are now spending the money directly out of pocket," Hickey said.
Her daughter is on the waitlist for speech-language therapy through NLHS. She received a speech-language assessment during what Hickey said was called "an assessment blitz."
"They basically just assessed everybody who had been on the waitlist at that point," Hickey told CBC News. "After you do that, it's 18 to 24 months. So she'll never actually see [a] Janeway speech language pathologist, essentially."
With her diagnosis, Hickey's daughter will see an SLP in school, but it won't replace her private care because of their caseload numbers.
"My daughter will have to miss school, and then I'll have to miss work to be able to continue to take her to these appointments when it should be available to her through the system," Hickey said.
In the provincial legislature last month, Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell said, "Once a teacher or support person identifies that a child has a particular need, then supports can be put in place immediately."
Hickey said that's not the case.
"There are situations I know of where parents send their kid to school, and they're only allowed to go to school an hour a day," she said. "How do you, as a parent, maintain a job and do all the other things if you have other children, if one of your children can only go to school for an hour a day?"
CBC News has requested interviews with the Department of Health and the Department of Education.
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