The year 2020 has forced all of us to be flexible in providing speech therapy. Below are five hints to improve the quality of your sessions.
1. Technology
It goes without saying that technology can be the beast in the room that won’t settle down. Even the experienced techie speech path has had sessions filled with glitches. Try to communicate to the parents about the invitation, the platform that you are using and directions to access the platform.
2. Create partners
We can create partners with both the parent and the client by being mindful that not everyone has an ideal work situation for teletherapy. Giving parents simple instructions about how their child will receive services, praising them and their children for completion of tasks help promote cohesive therapy. It is important to remember that parents who have been active team members help contribute to successful and productive IEP meetings, which in turn promotes successful therapy and carryover.
3. Share Responsibilities
In order to build a sense of commitment you may want to ask yourself the following questions.
Can your client be responsible for his/her own materials?
Will the family be present during therapy? How will you communicate with the parent and how often?
What kind of reminders need to be in place the help the client have the materials ready for therapy?
4. Shine a Light On It
Having a student that is lighted from the front will improve the SLP’s ability to see the child’s lip, tongue and facial expressions. We recommend asking the parent to place the child facing a lamp or a window.
Your student should be able to place their back against the back of the chair and their feet should be flat on the floor for optimal participation. Since many students are using adult chairs, we recommend a foot stool in front of the chair and a pillow in back. Our younger client’s brains can either work to keep them upright in the chair or to work on articulation. Let’s have them work on articulation.
5. Homework
Honestly, we don’t recommend homework for the R sound. When the family is using the Bite-R, the parents are requested to simply ask the child if he/she used the Bite-R position during a word production. We always want to promote motor/sound awareness.
Lastly, please remember that no setting is perfect, but with a little planning, you can still have productive and enjoyable sessions.
If you would like to talk more about teletherapy or the R sound, please contact us today.
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