{"id":12564,"date":"2023-11-11T08:48:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T16:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/?p=12564"},"modified":"2024-08-19T22:27:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T05:27:42","slug":"guiding-your-childs-speech-journey-a-parents-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/speech-therapy-for-kids\/guiding-your-childs-speech-journey-a-parents-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Guiding Your Child’s Speech Journey: A Parent’s Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

In my clinical career, I have dir<\/span>ect comparisons of parents who were deeply involved in their children\u2019s therapy regimen and those who were not. In almost every case, the parents who were more involved in their child\u2019s speech regimen had the most success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are several tips for how you can be the ideal partner in your child\u2019s therapy process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ask Questions \u2013 <\/b>Starting from your child\u2019s initial evaluation through every stage of therapy, don\u2019t be afraid to ask your speech therapist questions. Make sure you understand the recommendations given in your child\u2019s evaluation report. Whenever therapy goals are listed, ask about the rationale behind each goal and the sequence of those goals. Will they target goals individually or several at once?<\/span>
    <\/span> Inquire about your child\u2019s progress after a few weeks of therapy. What goals is your child most naturally making progress with? What activities are your child most motivated by? And what the discharge plan is.<\/span>
    <\/span> Your therapist will appreciate your active involvement in the therapy process, even if it seems like micro-managing.

    <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Offer Suggestions<\/b> \u2013 Don\u2019t be afraid to offer suggestions to your therapist. You will defer to your experienced, licensed professional regarding therapy techniques, goal selection, and the key clinical considerations. However, it is <\/span>essential <\/span><\/i>that your therapist know what brings your child joy. This can include games or activities that motivate your child, their preferred feedback or reinforcement (i.e. after each correct answer or at the end of a block of items), and potential prizes.<\/span>
    <\/span> Therapy should always be fun and focus on connecting with your child and their interests. Most therapists are well-stocked with games and other reinforcement tokens but, imparting your knowledge of what makes your child tick will pay enormous dividends for their growth.

    <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Practice Makes Perfect<\/b> \u2013 This adage applies in almost every area of speech and language therapy. There\u2019s no need to do more than your family can reasonably take on. However, research strongly suggests that frequent short home-based \u201csessions\u201d are the ideal way to pursue follow-up exercises.<\/span>
    <\/span> For example, three to four times per week for ten to fifteen minutes per session. Definitely take your therapist\u2019s lead and refrain from doing activities or exercises that aren\u2019t \u201cassigned\u201d by your therapist.<\/span>
    <\/span> When in doubt, ask for direction or clarification from your therapist.

    <\/span><\/li>\n
  4. It\u2019s a Process<\/b> \u2013 Speech and language therapy isn\u2019t a linear process. I\u2019ve seen early strong progress turn to mid-therapy frustration and vice versa. I\u2019ve seen minimal early progress give way to rapid change just as everyone was throwing their hands up in frustration. The lesson here is it\u2019s probably prudent to expect at least several months of visits, depending on the nature and number of goals on your child\u2019s therapy plan.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Speech and language are complex behaviors that can require time, persistence, and thoughtful intervention to change. In many cases, there\u2019s simply no way around this. By following the guidelines I’ve provided, you can make therapy more efficient and ensure a positive experience for your family.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Visit our website at speechbuddies.com<\/a> or contact us<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

    We also offer a free directory,\u00a0Speech Buddies Connect<\/a>, of SLP\u2019s on our website.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    By Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In my clinical career, I have direct comparisons of parents who were deeply involved in their children\u2019s therapy regimen and those who were not. In almost every case, the parents who were more involved in their child\u2019s speech regimen had the most success.\u00a0 Here are several tips for how you can be the ideal partner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1323,1599,830],"tags":[515,1329],"class_list":["post-12564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language-development","category-parents-corner","category-speech-therapy-for-kids","category-speech-therapy-ideas","tag-at-home-speech-therapy","tag-parents-corner-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/5FEA8C78-9799-44E4-AFAD-8A6B0481D8C0_1_105_c.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12564"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12573,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12564\/revisions\/12573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}