Everyone is different.
No two kids are the same. And neither are therapists.
Everyone has their own learning and teaching style, and it’s important to find a therapist who’s a good fit for your child’s needs.
When you’re meeting a therapist for a consultation or a screening, take the time to get to know them. Ask questions. Learn about their history, their approach to therapy, and their teaching style.
Here are 10 of the top questions you should ask a speech pathologist before your child starts therapy…
1. What is your background? Do you have any areas of speech or language development that you specialize in?
Find out about your therapist’s experience working with kids who are struggling with similar skills to those your child needs support with.
While having a specialty isn’t always necessary, it may be helpful for children dealing with less common speech or language disorders or who have complex needs.
2. Do you work on a team? How do you handle referrals if my child needs one?
Some speech therapists work in a practice with other professionals. Many work on their own or just with other speech therapists.
Whether they’re solo or part of a big group, find out about how they collaborate with other therapists, doctors, or specialists your child might need to see.
3. How do you decide what goals to focus on?
This one is especially important for kids who have multiple skills they need support with.
If your child only has trouble with their R sound, it’s pretty easy to figure out what goal you need to work on. But if your child has trouble with several sounds or multiple language skills, it’s important to understand how they would choose what to prioritize.
4. What does a normal session look like?
Find out how they typically target goals. Is the session more structured or play-based? Does the therapist select the activities or are they child-led?
Do they spend the full session time on direct intervention (doing therapy activities with your child) or is part of the time spent on things like parent coaching or providing you with updates on the session?
5. How do you keep parents informed about what you’re working on in therapy?
You’ll want to know how your therapist plans to update you on what they’re doing in therapy.
Will they spend the end of each session talking with you about what they did that day? Do they send you progress reports each month? Or do they have another system to keep you informed?
If you have a specific request, like receiving written updates every few weeks, be sure to ask whether that’s something they’re willing to do.
6. How do you handle it when a child is having trouble focusing or doesn’t want to work on therapy?
This situation is almost inevitable. So what do they do when it happens?
Do they have any strategies for helping kids stay focused or for keeping the session productive when they’re not?
7. How often do you assess progress? What do you do if a child isn’t making much progress?
Because each child is so unique, there’s no magic formula for teaching speech skills that will work for every kid every time. Therapists typically have their own go-to methods that they’ve found work effectively for most kids…
But what if your child isn’t one of them? What if they need something a bit more personalized? How often will they look at progress or whether they need to make updates to their treatment plan?
8. What do you expect from me as a parent?
Find out how involved the therapist wants you to be in your child’s therapy.
This could also open up conversations about whether you’ll observe your child’s sessions, how many days they want you to practice, and how much support they’ll give you for practicing therapy at home.
9. Do you offer resources I can use to work on things at home?
This is a great follow up to the last question. If you want to work with your child at home (and since you’re reading this, I’m guessing you do), you’ll want to find out whether you can expect to receive any resources from your therapist.
If that isn’t something they typically do, would they be willing to collect some resources for you or give you suggestions for where you could find them?
10. Will you teach me the techniques and strategies you’re using so I can practice with my child throughout the week?
This is an additional (and very important) level of support you’ll want to find out about.
Each therapist has their own preferred techniques they like to use to teach speech and language skills. One of the best ways to support your child’s therapy at home is to learn those techniques and how to implement them during your own practice time. That way your child can receive consistent support and reinforcement of those skills throughout the week.
Those are some of my favorite questions… now tell me about your list! What questions do you want to ask your therapist? Or what do you wish you would have asked about before starting therapy?? Let me know in the comments!
