Having worked in the public and private schools for over 20 years, and now in private practice, I still feel like I am going back to school in September. I remember getting all the class lists, schedules, changes in schedules and putting together my caseload list. Next, get my schedule approved by all the teachers and start in right away working with the kids. Whew! Makes me sweat just thinking about it.
As speech therapists know, who work in or outside the schools, one of the critical aspects to progress is child and parent participation outside the classroom. It has been my experience that this is harder to manage as a school clinician versus one in private practice (partly because I work in homes and SEE the parents every time) but I worked very hard to implement carryover when I was a school therapist.
I find that I can set up charts, take home communication books, games and offers of prizes for practice but the key element for carryover outside the therapy session is the parents’ involvement. Something that worked well when I was a therapist in the public and private schools was to invite the parent to observe a therapy session so they could see what and how we were working on their child’s goals. I know some districts have gotten stricter about allowing observations since others might be grouped with their child but it is worth trying to work it out with your administration. When parents see how you are getting the correct speech or language output and how to make it fun for some daily practice, they are more apt to be involved. After an observation, some form of communication book to pass back and forth from school to home helps maintain the carryover.
Let me know in the comments below, what works for you to get the parents involved and kids practicing outside of the therapy room? What excited your kids to practice between sessions?
October 17th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Wow, what a good topic. Having parents actively involved in the therapy process makes a huge difference. This is one area I really focus on to speed up the therapy process. I have an initial meeting with parents prior to starting school based tx and take the majority of that time to explain the hows and whys of the approach I use. I make a point of educating them on how to be effective to minimize the amount of “freestylilng” they do at home. Homework drills have to be very straightforward and read like a recipe. If there is any uncertainty about what is being asked, chances of them doing the homework drops greatly. I do a speech clinic as well and find clients progress much quicker simply as a result of the parent having to attend every session. Having parents attend every session allows me to develop the effectiveness of the homework they are able to do at home. As for exiting kids to practice between sessions. I guess I don’t go there. I have the homework drills be short and intense. Ballpark 200 reps for 5 mins practice. It is hard to have kids always excited to do this so I focus on developing this routine as a habit. It is like brushing your teeth. You don’t have to get a child excited every time you want them to brush their teeth. Once the habit is in place they will (hopefully) maintain the habit of brushing their teeth.
Marcus Little M.Sc-SLP
P.S. I really like your site.
October 18th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Marcus,
Thanks for your great insight. You are right. If we correctly educate the parents of our students, we see faster progress. Keeping homework simple and short makes it more likely that kids and parents will practice!
Keep up the good work.
Sherry