Stay-at-home mom refuses to take her 5-year-old son out of speech therapy because her husband thinks she can do it at home: 'It's costing us $700 a month.'

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Apr 11, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

Can an untrained mom teach her kid how to say his "Rs" on her own?

Where can you cut corners financially while raising a family? It's pretty obvious that your growing 5-year-old doesn't need designer clothes, but where do you draw the line? Should he only have a week's worth of clothes? Is it worth it to buy him new shoes when you have a sinking feeling his feet are about to grow two inches as soon as the transaction goes through? The best thing you can do is set a clear household budget and only purchase items that fit within it. If you can afford to max out your 401 (k) and spend $200 a month on kid clothes, there's no reason why you shouldn't splurge on these light-up firetruck sneakers. 

You shouldn't cut corners regarding food and keeping the lights on, but what about therapy? If your kid desperately needs talk therapy to function in their day-to-day life, it's worth every penny. Speech therapy is one of those things that has culturally become mandatory for any little kids with a lisp or delayed speech. Long gone are the days of waiting for your kid to grow out of their talking problems, and that's probably for the best. If a professional can help a child to better communicate and connect with their peers, it's also worth the moola. 

The dad in this story is suspicious of how expensive his son's speech therapist is. He thinks his wife, who has no training in speech pathology, can teach him everything on her own. After all, how hard can it be? 

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  • Boy in the session of speech therapist lesson on the development of speech in Kindergarten
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A little boy learns how to pronounce words with the help of a speech therapist. 

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Would I be the bad guy for refusing to teach my son and costing us $700 a month?

    AITAH (25f) for refusing to take my 5 year old out of speech therapy and do it myself since I'm a SAHM?
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • We pay $88 for 30 minutes of therapy with a speech language pathologist 2 times a week.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • In these sessions they typically play a game, something like go fish but it's all cards with the sound he's working on.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • A person holding a fan of playing cards
    via Alessandro Bogliari

    Speech therapist playing Go Fish with her kindergartener client.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • They will also do things like ispy pages filled with the appropriate sounds. My husband (25m) is extremely bothered that we pay this much for the SLP to just play games.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • He believes this is something I could easily do at home instead of paying for it.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • (We already do what the SLP recommends we implement at home/ the homework) He is also upset that I'm refusing to since I'm at SAHM and have the time.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • I'm refusing to do so because I know my child. We do homeschool things to supplement where he is behind in school.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • A young boy sitting at a table with a tablet
    via Hans (Unsplash+)

    A little boy practices math at home with his mom so he won't struggle in school.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I know how it is to get him to sit down and follow the directions I give him.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • He is strong willed and sees saying no as an option with us. These are things he doesn't have a problem with when working with the SLP.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • I also often watch the SLP use techniques or explanations or demonstrations for sounds that I never would've thought of.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • I know I have no training in this and strongly believe being able to speak clearly is a very important thing for his life.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • Edit: He is in Kindergarten and already receives 1 hour/ month of speech therapy from the school.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • This is done through 15 minutes/week. He has been in speech therapy since he was 3 and also was enrolled in a special preschool for speech through the district.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • willowmarie27 Also if you are only getting 15 minutes a week and are having to supplement with more therapy, you need to call for an IEP meeting and show them this and advocate for an increase in services. Also the schools SLP should be giving you specific things to work on at home.
    via u/willowmarie27
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply The SLP at the school knows we go two times a week outside of school and works along side the SLP at the clinic. The school SLP doesn't give us homework, only the outside one does. When we requested more time we were denied.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • Feisty-Body- I think OP described the child as strong willed not the husband
    via u/Feisty-Body-
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply Haha I was describing my child that way but I would use that term for both of them
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • willowmarie27 Is your child meeting their goals. Did the team decide to deny you or the school. If your child isn't making progress he should get more time. You can call as many IEP meetings as you want. They have to have them. Ask for progress on goals. If you dont mind, is it articulation or language?
    via u/willowmarie27
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply Over the last almost 3 years we have progressed and it is now just an articulation issue with about 3- 4 sounds. When he started he was basically non verbal. We were denied by the school because he's meeting the goals. However a big reason he is meeting goals is because of the extra sessions he does outside of school.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • Vee_Leigh Explain to your husband that you only know what exercises to do because of the SLP. You wouldn't know how to progress or even fully evaluate when your kid has understood a sound, as the SLP would know more applications and be able to say when to move on. Also, explain that you're not paying $88 for your kid to play games, you're paying for the SLP's. experience and training. Compare to hiring a mechanic, a plumber, electrician, etc, unless you're husband is OK to just whing it and do t
    via u/Vee_Leigh
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply Haha he does do those fixes on his own
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • One-Investigator5230 SLP here. If you're in the US, even homeschooled children can receive free speech therapy through your local school district. Call and explain you'd like an evaluation for speech concerns and they can get the process started. So your husband is right that you shouldn't be paying $700/month but he's de d wrong about everything else. He's failing to consider that SLPs must minimally complete a 6 year degree program that includes obtaining a Master's degree, state certification
    via u/One-Investigator5230
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply He did head start through the district and is in kindergarten with the district. He already receives 1 hour/ month through school that is done in 15 min/ week sessions. We are doing 2x a month because that was the treatment plan that was recommended to us with the SLP working with the SLP at the school and his IEP.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • Soft-Walrus8255 Are you living in a U.S. public school district? If so, have you checked to see whether you can get this service for your child through the district, even though you don't have him enrolled in public school?
    via u/Soft-Walrus8255
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply He already receives 1 hour/ month from district that is done in 15 minute sessions each week.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • Ok-Perspective-5109 Info: is he school aged? Could he be in Kindergarten now or will he attend in the fall? Services would be free through public school. If he is behind then homeschooling him isn't going to catch him up. You are NTA for not wanting to provide services but if he should be in school and you are choosing homeschool then there are other things you need to consider.
    via u/Ok-Perspective-5109
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply He is in Kindergarten already and he receives 1 hours per month from the school. So 15 minutes a week.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • Only_Music_2640 He sounds like my father who refused to acknowledge or treat my brother's ADHD because he was afraid having a "defective son" would reflect badly on him and make him less of a man.
    via u/Only_Music_2640
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply We've been going to speech since my son was 3 and my husband took him to the majority of the appointments for a long time as I was working until January this year. This is purely a cost thing for him.
    via u/Few_Confection6089
  • Delicious-Design-547 Maybe he should consider a job with better insurance, and by proxy, health insurance that would cover these sort of services
    via u/Delicious-Design-547
  • Few_Confection6089 Original Poster's Reply The $88 is with our insurance
    via u/Few_Confection6089

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stay at home mom therapy speech talking parenting dad little kids expensive son budget
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