Before a child can begin speech therapy they will go through testing to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Then, the speech therapist will write goals to address areas that can be strengthened. After the speech therapist completes the testing and goals, they will likely go over the report and goals with you. When working with a speech therapist, you will be working as a team. Your input is important and always welcomed. Once you begin speech therapy you may or may not be asked to sit in on the session. This varies on where and when your child will be seeing the speech therapist, and many times it also depends on the child. Many therapists find that it is easier to get children to focus on tasks when they are seen one on one with no others in the room. Other times it may be beneficial for parents to be in on the session, so they are able to carry over activities to the home and other environments.
If you do observe a speech session there are many ways it may look. The way a session is structured depends on the age of the child and the goals. For young children (under the age of 5) speech therapy may look like playing. Be assured, speech therapists are doing more than playing and they are, at many times, targeting multiple goals during each session! Speech therapists are professionals at keeping children engaged and sneaking therapy into a fun and engaging environment. Therapy for older children can focus on functional goals for school, social situations and even preparing to enter the workforce. Older children are taught strategies and techniques to help recognize their own difficulties during speech and language tasks. No matter the child’s age, speech therapists want their students to be excited to come back to speech!
Below you can find a great website with common questions that parents have about speech therapy and their answers!