Networking is often the best way to start your search for a professional to provide your child with speech and language therapy. You can ask your child’s pediatrician, physical therapist, or other service providers. Additionally, you can ask your relatives, friends, or parents of other children with special needs in your area for recommendations. You may find a speech and language pathologist you trust and who has the necessary experience treating kids with cerebral palsy this way, but sometimes you can’t, and you need additional options.
Kentucky Department of Professional Licensure
If you want more information about a speech and language professional or if you need help finding one in your area, you can use the Kentucky Department of Professional Licensure’s website. On this website, you can search the Kentucky Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology by license type, region, and county. The available license types include:
- Audiologist
- Audiologist Temporary
- Interim audiologist
- Interim speech-language pathologist
- Interim speech-language pathologist assistant
- Speech-language pathologist
- Speech-language pathologist temporary
- Speech-language pathologist assistant
- Speech-language pathologist assistant temporary
- Teaching certificate
For each person, the Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology will provide the license, the date the license was issued, and the date the license expires. In some cases, contact information may also be available.
Find the Right Fit
When choosing a speech and language provider for your child with cerebral palsy, it is important to find someone who is a good fit for your child’s personality and needs and who holds the necessary credentials. You can ask a potential speech and language service provider questions such as:
- Have you ever worked with a child who has cerebral palsy before?
- What experience do you have with my child’s particular issues?
- What will you do if my child doesn’t cooperate with you?
- Will you also work with my family so that we can support my child?
- Do you have any references?
For more tips on how to help your child with cerebral palsy, please browse our other cerebral palsy FAQs or download a FREE copy of our guide, Family First: How to Get the Help You Need After a Birth Injury to Your Child Happens in Kentucky.
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