My Approach to Teletherapy
I offer caregiver coaching and direct therapy options, with a unique twist.
Direct Sessions
I can work directly with clients who are able to be independent or semi-independent (just need a caregiver in the room) during a session. I use a hybrid approach with these clients, guided by their needs rather than a one-size-fits-all plan. I use digital materials (videos, some books and games, etc) that I screen share or physical materials that I show under the camera (games, visuals, drawing activities, and books that can't be screen shared). Sometimes I even do activities where the client and I both have the same physical materials on our own sides and we complete an activity together.
If you ever wonder why we're doing a certain game or activity, ask! With most of my kids I try to incorporate learning as seamlessly as I can into play - but that also means that it may just look like play to you, too! I'm happy to walk you through what's actually going on behind the scenes of a session.
Sample Activities
Physical Games
I have a whole closet full and choose ones that both go with our goals and your child's interests. In order to play them, I simply point my camera at the game from overhead. I like physical games because I've found that the ones I have are just plain more engaging for the kids than many digitally available speech therapy games. Many people wonder how I'm able to use physical games in sessions since my kids can't physically interact with the pieces. The answer is that since they can't move the pieces, the kids have to tell me what they want me to do with them. Given that this is speech therapy, having games where my kids talk more (and have to take my perspective to make sure their directions make sense) is just a great bonus.
Digital Games
Playing a digital game. Sometimes, yes, I do play digital games! There aren't many I like for speech therapy, but I do have one (Scribblenauts Remix) that incorporates loads of skills in very subtle ways and I'll play it with the kids. There are so many skills I can target with this game, depending on what my kids are working on. Self-monitoring while reading, adding adjectives to better describe words, describing what they want me to make the character do, making a plan, predicting and responding to possible problems, the list goes on!
Books
I love to read with my kids, even when reading isn't a direct goal for them. I can embed so much learning into a book! For most of the kids the reading isn't the goal itself so much as it is a vehicle to help me accomplish that goal, so I usually do most of the reading itself, with my kids just contributing where they want to. I pick books that support their learning in other ways, too, such as having social-emotional lessons embedded in them that my kid needs to learn, or supporting their academic learning without them noticing. And all the while I'm incorporating whatever other executive function, language, or social goal they're working on.
Videos
I love watching videos with my kids! So long as I have a kid that is willing to pause every few minutes to answer a question or discuss the movie, I can embed pretty much any goal into a video. They're particularly helpful for working on executive function and social communication.
Caregiver Supported Sessions
Extremely young children (<5 years old) and kids with complex communication disorders (multiple significant disorders) tend to benefit most from a caregiver sidelines coaching model. In a caregiver sidelines coaching model, the caregiver or other adult facilitator, will essentially follow my directions as I give them guidance from where I'm watching via video chat.
For example, I might have a caregiver simply play with their child as I give cues such as "try moving the toy to her eye level so that she can process it visually before encouraging her to interact with it" or "try tickling him the instant he [reaches, looks, vocalizes, etc] so he'll understand that the tickles are in response to his communication". To help you visualize it, my teletherapy sidelines coaching sessions look very similar to those in this video.
I can manage to work with most kids directly by using very high interest materials; most of my clients have executive function and/or emotional regulation skill struggles (PDA, "challenging behaviors", etc). That said, I know there are some kids who do not react well to even the idea of therapy, to such an extreme extent that they simply aren't able to participate in sessions even with a caregiver next to them. With children like this I can meet with the caregiver at regular intervals to come up with a skill acquisition plan for the caregiver to implement on their own, see how the plan is going, and work together to make changes going forward.
