Tips for families resuming speech services at school during distance learning

Education continues to look different for most students — and that especially includes those pupils with disabilities who receive support services like speech therapy through their schools.

In most cases, in-person services have been replaced by virtual therapy appointments, which have been an adjustment for families and the speech language pathologists who work with them. Families whose children previously received services in school are now trying to juggle telehealth visits with varying levels of success.

As students head back to school — mostly online — families are trying to work out the educational hurdles, which include making sure their students are receiving the support they are entitled to in a virtual setting.

“What used to fit in our box in a school setting might not be realistic right now,” said Liz Lucas, a speech language pathologist (SLP) and clinical instructor in the University of Delaware’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders who also works in the UD Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. “We need to recognize that we have to be flexible that way.”

Lucas and Amanda Owen Van Horne, associate professor and director of the Tell Lab, offer the following tips for parents of children with language and speech issues.

Tip 1: Accept that speech services will look different, at least to start the year

Tip 2: Communication matters — on both sides

Tip 3: Teletherapy is a chance for families to see what goes on during speech services

Tip 4: The home environment matters for virtual therapy

Tip 5: Expectations are critical

Read the full story from University of Delaware here.