You’ve been looking at speech therapy for kids, but what actually happens in online speech therapy? What will the first session look like? What does speech therapy look like through telehealth? What do I need to do or prepare?
If you have been asking yourself these questions, then this speech therapy guide for parents will help you feel confident from speech therapy session #1.
What To Expect in Your First Speech Therapy Session
Each of our speech therapists takes pride and care to individualise our sessions to fit each client. This starts from our initial consultation, which is a 1 hour session where we deep dive into your concerns. You may have experienced an initial consultation before for your own health, such as when meeting a physiotherapist for the first time or a pediatrician for your child.
A speech therapy initial consultation includes:
🧠 Discussing you or your child’s medical, social, and developmental history
🎯 Setting meaningful goals for future sessions
🚀 Mapping out the best path forward
How to Prepare For Your First Speech Therapy Session
Now you know what your initial consultation is going to look like, here is what to think about beforehand and bring with you.
Because you’ll be discussing medical, social, and developmental history, our speech pathologists recommend bringing documents like:
- Medical reports
- Previous health test or assessment results
- Feedback, notes or comments from other health professionals, teachers or carers
- School reports
You’ll also want to prepare for questions from your speech pathologist about your child as they try to find the best way to support them. Some questions your speech pathologist may ask are:
- What are their likes and dislikes?
- What are their favourite toys? (Yes, you can bring these to the initial consultation sessions!)
- What are your goals or hopes for attending speech therapy?
- What do you expect sessions to look like?
Remember, setting goals and deciding on the best steps forward doesn’t have to be a one-sided approach. Collaboration between the speech therapist and the parent is an essential part of making the most out of speech therapy.
Should Your Child Attend Your Initial Consultation?
The decision is up to you.
Older kids might benefit from being involved, sharing their experiences, and even helping to set their own goals. For some children, it can be an empowering experience.
However, you also need to consider whether you’ll need space to speak freely without little ears listening in, especially when discussing sensitive topics.
How Do I Prepare for an Online Speech Therapy Session?
Worried about the tech side? Our Pop Admin Support staff have lots of experience with using telehealth for sessions, we can help you set up and optimise settings to get the best results for the session.
Just email our friendly staff a few days before your first session that you would like a tech set up call, and let them know if you have any questions about getting ready to use Zoom.
Wondering how we'll keep your child engaged in online speech therapy?
Listen to our Beyond Words Podcast episode on “Keeping Kids Engaged Over Telehealth” how your speech therapy sessions are designed around you and your child. Heidi interviews Lucy Griffin, our Clinical Lead for Engagement in Therapy, to share our strategies and tips for parents.
Ways To Get The Most Out Of Speech Therapy Sessions
Here are some ways to increase the impact of speech therapy for kids every session:
1. Get Involved In Their Session
Being an active participant in speech therapy sessions creates a safe, educational and fun environment for kids.
In fact, research (Barfoot, Meredith, Zivicani and Whittingham, 2015) has shown that the more involved in the session a parent is, the more benefit the child receives.
One study (Jung, 2003) even showed that one hour of therapy that focuses on parent involvement and upskilling can equal up to 87 hours of impact for the child. Think of how much faster goals can progress with 87 hours instead of 1 🤯
Getting involved in sessions looks different for each family. Ask your speech therapist how you can be involved in your child’s session.
2. Keep the Learning Going
Think of speech therapy sessions as a way of practising the strategies that you, as a parent, can use throughout your child’s day.
This can make it easier to find time for your child’s speech therapy homework. Instead of feeling dread about adding another activity to your day, you can embed the strategies into the activities you already do together.
Research (Barfoot, Meredith, Whittingham and Kerley, 2023) shows that consistency is key to building progress towards goals. The more confident you feel in adding speech strategies into your days in between sessions, the better the outcomes for your child.
Check in with your speech therapist about what homework activities you can plan throughout your everyday routines.
3. Create a language-rich environment!
Another way to maximise the benefits of speech therapy is to create an environment that is rich in language.
This can help children build their communication skills as well as build positive interactions through language.
There are so many ways to make an environment language-rich, here are just a few:
- Having books and toys accessible to your child: Storing books and toys on low shelves or boxes that your child can reach without help
- Visuals: Adding picture labels can help build an understanding of vocabulary.
- Shared focus and games: Interactive games are a great way to build language!
- Narrating your child’s play: Comment on what they are doing, like you are making a story about their game.
Your speech therapist can also help with ideas and activities to build a language-rich environment. Ask them in your next session to see how you can make a language-rich environment in your home!
Looking for a speech therapy service that supports you every step of the way?
Pop Online Speech Therapy works together with you and your child through every milestone (big and small). We map out goals throughout your speech therapy journey that help you and your family reach your potential.
Want to learn more?
References:
1. Whittingham, K., Barfoot, J., Meredith, P., & Ziviani, J. (2015). Relationship-focused parenting intervention to support developmental outcomes for a young child with cerebral palsy: A practice application. DoRA 2.0 | Database of Research Activity.
https://dora.health.qld.gov.au/qldresearchjspui/handle/1/4411
2. Jung, L. A. (2003). More better. Young Exceptional Children, 6(3), 21–26.
https://doi.org/10.1177/109625060300600303
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/109625060300600303
3. Jacqueline Barfoot, Pamela Meredith, Koa Whittingham & Lachlan Kerley (01 May 2023): Including a relationship-focus in paediatric occupational therapy interventions: Introducing the PAIR Model, Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, DOI: 10.1080/19411243.2023.2203416
