Speech Therapy in Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester-area families reach speech therapy through several doors. For children birth to three, Family Centered Early Supports and Services (FCESS) — delivered through the area agency system, with the Moore Center serving greater Manchester — can include speech-language support with no diagnosis or referral required and a free evaluation. For school-age children, the Manchester School District (the largest in New Hampshire) provides speech therapy as a related service when it is written into an IEP.

Outside those systems, Easterseals NH provides pediatric speech-language pathology among its Manchester therapy services, and Dartmouth Hitchcock's Manchester clinic includes speech and language among its multidisciplinary developmental services. Private practices in the greater Manchester area also offer outpatient speech therapy.

On funding: New Hampshire's autism insurance mandate requires state-regulated plans to cover medically necessary autism treatment, which can include speech therapy (self-funded ERISA plans are exempt — check your plan documents). NH Medicaid covers medically necessary speech-language services for eligible children. School-based speech therapy provided under an IEP is free to families.