Virtual speech therapy: Can teletherapy work for my child?
You might be wondering if teletherapy is a good option for your child. That is completely understandable knowing that they have different attention spans than adults.
Teletherapy is a viable option for children. Multiple studies have found positive outcomes for children who received therapy via telepractice (Bridgman et al., 2016, Tomaiuoli et al., 2021). Your therapist is obligated to ensure that your child is a good fit for telepractice and to provide options if it is not. Also, therapists can adapt activities to increase your child’s engagement similar to in-person sessions. So, rest assured that your child will receive excellent care if they are determined to be a candidate for teletherapy.
The most important thing is that you find a therapist with expertise for your child’s condition. Much of therapy for young children incorporates involvement with the parent via parent education, discussions, and practice implementing techniques. Thus, it is critical that you receive this support and that you receive the right information.
The field of speech pathology is huge - from toddlers to seniors, teaching students to how to say “r” to helping people who have had a stroke to swallow again, SLPs have a lot to keep up with! And because stuttering only affects 1% of the population, SLPs do not see people who stutter nearly as often as people with other conditions.
In a recent national study, researchers found that school-based speech-language pathologists reported only moderate self-efficacy for providing multidimensional treatment for children who stutter (Beita-Eli & Boyle, 2020). In North Carolina, only 14% of school-based speech-language pathologists felt extremely confident in treating children who stutter - and 16.9% felt not at all confident (Briley, 2018).
If you receive outdated advice or techniques are applied ineffectively, you will waste valuable time and money. More importantly, your child will not progress and you both will feel frustrated. Worse, you may feel disempowered because you tried therapy and it “didn’t work.”
So, can teletherapy work for your child? Yes! Your support and understanding of stuttering is critical for your child’s development, and you can accomplish all of this and more through teletherapy!
References:
Beita-Ell, C., & Boyle, M. P. (2020). School-based speech-language pathologists' perceived self-efficacy in conducting multidimensional treatment with children who stutter. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(4), 1172–1186.
Bridgman, K., Onslow, M., O’Brian, S., Jones, M., & Block, S. (2016). Lidcombe program webcam treatment for early stuttering: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 59(5), 932–939. https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_jslhr-s-15-0011
Briley, P. M. (2018). Issues in assessment of children who stutter: A survey of speech-language pathologists in the state of North Carolina. Clinical Archives of Communication Disorders, 3(2), 95–103.
Tomaiuoli, D., Del Gado, F., Marchetti, S., Scordino, L., & Vedovelli, D. (2021). Telepractice in school-age children who stutter: A controlled before and after study to evaluate the efficacy of MIDA-SP. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2021.6380
Keywords: speech therapy, stuttering, learning disabilities, dyslexia, teletherapy, telepractice, Texas, Houston, Cypress, Tomball, Klein, Spring, Woodlands