Speech Teletherapy: Why in some cases it works better than traditional on-site speech therapy.

I’ve been doing speech teletherapy for several years and know first hand how effective it is, but I don’t think others truly grasped it until this spring when the entire country came to a halt and everyone shifted virtually.  Here are five reasons why, in some cases, teletherapy is more effective than traditional therapy and you should consider trying it!

Carry-over and home practice

Carry over is a client or student’s ability to take an individual speech skill learned in therapy and apply it broadly in all speaking situations. Because you are providing teletherapy within the client’s/student’s home this can be easier to achieve. Items used during therapy are typically found within the client/student’s home. These items can be used for practice until the next speech teletherapy session.

More frequent contact with therapist

Because therapy can be scheduled without worry of travel time and at the convenience of both the client/student and the therapist, it is much easier to have multiple sessions and contact with each other. In some cases short, more frequent practice, is needed to master a skill (i.e., speech sound aquisition).

Convenience of doing therapy in your home

As noted above there’s no travel time or waiting in waiting rooms. The client or student simply logs on to the HIPAA/FERPA compliant platform and the therapy session begins.

Helps with those who have social anxiety

I have clients and students who have difficulty warming up to others in person. Each session begins with a period of time used to build rapport and establish (or re-establish) a connection. However, with teletherapy, I have found the time for building rapport is decreased. My client or student is in his/her own home and often has support from a loved one to decrease his/her anxiety.

Family support and participation

My clients and students all have family members who actively participate in our speech teletherapy sessions. This has been invaluable as many of them then work on targets with the client/student during the week while we aren’t in our session together.

There are many reasons to consider when providing speech therapy in person, on-site or virtually, and Trilogy Therapy specializes in doing it all! Visit us at www.trilogyteletherapy.com and schedule a visit today!

Ellen C. Treide MS, CCC-SLP

Animated Shorts... How to use them in therapy and teletherapy

Have you ever used animated shorts to guide your therapy or teletherapy? If you haven’t, you should! Luckily there are an abundance of them on YouTube and other video streaming websites. Here are some of our favorites!

Snack Attack

This cute animation details a grandmother’s need for a snack mixed with a little forgetfulness. Our students are always actively engaged with this one. Here’s what we love to target: Articulation: Ample opportunities for /k/, Pronouns, Verbs, Grammar, Pragmatics: Feelings and Problem solving, Story Grammar and retell

The Present

A boy and his dog! Some of our students really relate to The Present as it highlights differences and acceptance. There’s an abundance of targets in this one, but here are some recommendations: Articulation/Phonology: Fronting, Vocabulary: Antonyms, Synonyms, Verbs, Pragmatics: Problem Solving and Feelings, Prepositions, Story Grammar and Retell

Pip

Another dog animation here, but who doesn’t love puppies… especially, puppies going to puppy university! This animation follows Pip as he learns how to be a guide dog. Our students love this animation and it’s full of speech and language! Here’s what we like to work on: Vocabulary: Synonyms, Antonyms and Verbs, Prepositions, Grammar, Pronouns, Wh- Questions, Pragmatics: Problem Solving and Feelings, Story Grammar and Retell

Hey Deer!

Christmas animations always catch and keep our learner’s attention! Hey Deer! does not disappoint. The deer does everything exactly the same, everyday so this animation is really great for prediction. There are fantastic visual clues throughout! We also like to target the following: Articulation: especially /r/, Vocabulary, Wh- questions, Prediction, Mean Length Utterance, Grammar

Coin Operated

Imagination and the love of space are highlighted in this short animation as it features a boy’s desire to go to outer space. This animation is fabulous for many speech and language targets including: Articulation: especially /k/, Vocabulary, Prediction, Pragmatics: Problem Solving and Feelings

Lambs

This is a fun tale on how a mom and dad try to teach their little lamb to “baa.” Imagine the shock they experience when the lamb makes a “moo” instead! There are so many targets in this one. Here are some we use: Opposites, Pragmatics: Problem Solving and Feelings, Vocabulary: Adjectives and Verbs

Animated shorts really are amazing! Want to see how Trilogy Therapy uses them in action? Click our demo page and we’ll show you how we use animated shorts while providing therapy with no barriers!

Our Favorite Speech Teletherapy Resources

Trilogy Therapy realizes with recent school closures and additional changes we might see in the face of COVID-19, some of you are turning to teletherapy. We believe the health and well-being in all humans are of utmost importance. We also know that we are in a unique position in providing teletherapy services to help traditional therapists through these uncertain times. We would like to help you better prepare for your teletherapy experience by sharing some of the resources we use daily to make our sessions great.

Please use the following resources as a roadmap to help you and your students stay healthy. We’ve taken a minute to list some of our favorites!

Ultimate SLP 

The Ultimate SLP is a new(er) website full of amazing speech language therapy materials, including fun, interactive games with real life pictures. We love this site so much that all of our speech therapists have access to a monthly membership through Trilogy Therapy. Seriously, this site takes off hours of planning time each month!

Boom Learning 

Boom Learning is a website full of gamified exercises we highly recommend. One of our favorite features… data tracking!!! There are four different levels of membership depending on your usage. Give the starter level a try. We’re sure you’ll love it just as much as we do!

Vooks 

We’re probably a little behind the ball on this one. We just started using Vooks at Trilogy Therapy and can’t believe we have been missing out for so long! Vooks makes storybooks come alive! These are great resources to pull out and use in any teletherapy session!

The Whimsical Word 

The Whimsical Word  has done a fabulous job creating digital resources for speech language pathologists and special educators. We find the Whimsical Word’s website and blog incredibly valuable. The Whimsical Word’s digital resources are outstanding!

Smart Notebook 

Smart Notebook provides a great platform to create your own speech therapy activities. We use Smart Notebook for a number of other reasons too, like creating visual schedules and picture symbols. Smart Notebook has definitely come in handy!

Jigsaw Planet / Memory Match 

These are some of the awesome free games we use during our speech therapy sessions. They are a great way to keep attention, and/or add incentive. We also use them to teach new computer users how to click and drag. Give them a try!

Teachers Pay Teachers

There are also some really great resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. Below are some we use frequently for speech teletherapy:

• The Whimsical Word

• My Teletherapy Room

• Speech Your Mind

• Speech Wonderland

• Language Speech and Literacy

• GoldieTalks Speech

• BVG SLP

Teletherapy continues to change healthcare and our industry. It’s important for us all to realize the power and effectiveness teletherapy provides our patients and students in achieving their greatest potential.