As we are now in lockdown in the Lake Macquarie, Newcastle and Port Stephens areas, many of our clients and their families will be transitioning to online speech pathology appointments, and working on their speech and language goals from the comfort, warmth, and safety of their own homes.
Last year when we went into our first lockdown, our Practice Director, Lauren, wrote a blog post about the benefits of online appointments. This is a great read if you are thinking whether online appointments will help your children.
Our Speech Pathologists at A Growing Understanding have extensive experience and ongoing education in working with children and adolescents within the context of online appointments, also known as Telehealth. We have loads of online resources, games, and strategies to help your child engage in assessments and therapy to achieve their goals.
After years of running online appointments (and probably thousands since the start of COVID-19), we have pulled together our Five top tips to help you make the most of your online speech pathology appointments.
Prepare Your Child for Their Online Speech Pathology Appointment
If your child has never attended an online appointment before they might be a bit nervous or uneasy. Before the appointment you could:
- Read a social story about what to expect with your child. We have a social story called “All About Online Speech Therapy” which is free to download, just click the link.
- Gather some of your child’s favourite toys, photos, books or games to show your speech pathologist. This is a great way to start an appointment with your speech pathologist and help your child feel comfortable.
- Your child might want to show the speech pathologist a pet they have. I remember last year one of my little friends jumped down from the computer and told me to wait until he showed me his pet. I waited, expecting a cat or dog to come into view, and instead he came back on the screen carrying a massive goat! It gave us lots to talk about and encouraged some fantastic language development opportunities.
Do a Practice Run with a Friend or Family Member
If you have never attended an online appointment before it might be a good idea to have a practice with a friend or family member. This allows you to problem solve any technical issues you may have, see how Zoom works, as well as show your child that online appointments can be fun.
Set Up for Success
By doing some simple steps prior to your online appointments, you will be able to set up the appointment for success. Our suggestions are:
- Turn off screens at least one hour prior to the online appointment. Your child might not be too happy if you tell them to turn off their favourite game or show to come and practice reading or saying their speech sounds. Giving them a bit of time away from the screen before their appointment can help them transition and engage.
- Make sure your child has had a drink and something healthy to eat prior to the appointment. And don’t forget a trip to the toilet too!
- Encourage your child to do some exercise or activity prior to the appointment to get their wiggles out. Research also shows that physical activity can get our brains ready to learn.
- Set up a dedicated spot for your child’s online appointments, away from distractions and noise.
- Have a toy or activity that will keep your child entertained while you are talking and planning with your speech pathologist.
Be an Active Participant in the Appointments
Be sure to sit with your child during the online sessions. As the parent, you are vital in helping with the engagement in the session and supporting your child.
We love having our families as active participants in their child’s therapy. We also know that when parents and carers take an active role in their child’s intervention, they reach their goals quicker. Your speech pathologist will let you know how you can get involved during the appointments.
Sometimes, certain children may not be suited to online appointments, but don’t let that time go to waste with your speech pathologist. Set your child up with some toys or a snack and use that time to discuss and brainstorm home practice activities that will support your child to achieve their communication or feeding goals!
Be Honest and Don’t Give Up
For some children it can take a couple of sessions for them to get into the groove of online speech therapy, but keep an open mind to new ways of learning and always provide feedback to your speech pathologist about how it’s going. Any ideas you might have are welcome, and if you think something is a bit too tricky, just let us know. Being flexible with our approach is what will help you and your child continue to grow in this tricky time.
Our speech pathologists love thinking up new and exciting ways to engage children for online appointments! So, remember to turn the video and sound on, and get ready to learn – we can do the rest!
