What Does Speech Therapy Really Look Like?

Esmeralda is a certified bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist. She has been practicing for over 9 years. She obtained a double Bachelors in Speech Therapy and Spanish with a minor in Women's Studies from Saint Xavier University in Chicago and a Master’s degree from the top 20 nationally ranked Speech Therapy program –Indiana University with a specialization in working with Spanish and English speaking children through the STEPS program.

Are you interested in services for your child? Founded by Esmeralda Sánchez M.A. CCC-SLP/L, Bilingual and Brilliant Speech Therapy, LLC provides Speech Therapy in-home and via teletherapy in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.

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You may be concerned with your child’s speech or language skills. Your pediatrician may have expressed concerns at their doctor’s appointment and given you a referral asking for a speech evaluation to be completed. Perhaps your child’s teacher has concerns with his or her speech. Let’s talk this out.

But, wait. What Does Speech Therapy Really Look Like?

As ready and willing parents are for their child to receive Speech Therapy, many start the process with questions that are not asked and or thoroughly explained by the Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP).

Some of these questions may include:

• What does Speech Therapy typically look like?

• What skills will my child be working on?

• How do I know if he or she is meeting their therapy goals?

• Is therapy individual or in groups? Which is better for my child?

• Will I be involved during the sessions?

• What should I do at home to help my child make progress?

• How long will my child need Speech Therapy for?

Even parents whose child may already be receiving Speech Therapy may be wondering these things, as they aren’t always explained in detail by the therapist.

Therapy can look different depending on the individual needs of your child. But, here are the ABC’s of what Speech Therapy looks like.

A. Writing Appropriate Goals:

• Goals come from the initial speech evaluation completed

• Goals can also be derived from your personal concerns with your child’s communication needs

• Goals are broken in 2 categories: Long Term Goals (LTG) and Short Term Goals (STG).

• LTGs are your broad-long term goals that may take 6 months-1 year to achieve depending on many factors. A LTG may be composed of 2-3 STGs. Example 1: Alana will produce 2-3 word phrases when requesting, commenting, asking questions, playing and objecting in 8/10 trials with minimal (less than 2) verbal and visual cues. Example: Alek will produce /s/ in all word positions at the sentence level in 8/10 trials with moderate (less than 3) verbal, visual, and tactile cues.

• STGs are your specific-babysteps goals needed to achieve your LTGs. Example 1: Alana will imitate words and or word approximations when requesting, playing, and objecting in 8/10 trials with maximal (less than 4) verbal and visual cues. Example 2: Alek will produce /s/ in the initial, medial, and final position of words at the word level in 8/10 trials with maximal to moderate (less than 4-3) verbal, visual, and tactile cues.

• The SLP will work on the LTGs and STGs on a weekly basis.

• Goals are met when the child meets the established criteria (8/10 trials=80% accuracy).

B. Tracking Goals:

• The SLP then begins to work on the STGs that lead towards the progress and completion of the LTGs during therapy.

• If you are present during therapy, the SLP can tell you what goals will be specifically targeted during the session and or if you are not they will begin working on the activity.

• The SLP may give you activities, handouts, and or a “follow up” as to how your child did during the session and how you can work on the targeted skills at home.

• For younger children you may see the SLP use a “play based” approach in which it looks like the therapist is “simply playing”; however, be assured that this is a skilled practice and the best approach to take with little ones. A child’s brain is 10x more likely to pay attention, be motivated, and retain skills taught than by using a traditional Speech Therapy approach.

• The SLP will track data during the session (The SLP will note how many times a child demonstrated correct production or use of skill out of a total number of attempts. Ex. produced /s/ in the beginning of words in 10/13 trials.

• The SLP will note the amount of support that was needed to successfully achieve a goal (maximal-moderate, minimal-independent support).

• Important anecdotal information such as the activity type, the alertness/interest of the child/activity, and any other useful information that may help caregivers obtain helpful information regarding the child’s unique abilities and areas of need

• You may or may not see the SLP jot down every word, attempt, and or tally for data purposes. The flow of therapy has to flow!

• The data, amount of support, and anecdotal information will be written after every Speech Therapy session in what is typically called a “Therapy Note” and or “Progress Note”.

• Once the child has achieved the goal, new goals are written depending on the unique needs of the child and parental input.

C. Parent Involvement:

• It is a good idea to talk to the SLP about your role in the process from the start of Speech Therapy during the first session.

• Be clear about your comfortability levels and overall needs. Talk about whether or not you’ll be actively participating, if you will be home but not in the therapy space, if homework will be given, and how often you will like to “follow up”/consult regarding progress.

• Parents can have access to Speech Therapy notes if requested.

• Finally, evaluations are typically done 6 months to 1 year since the start of Speech Therapy to determine the progress made.

Ask us how Speech therapy will look like for your child during our initial consultation!