Signs That Your Speech Pathologist may not be a “Good Match” for Your Child

Howdy all,

Well I am now the proud mother of two beautiful children. Our little boy Liam was born on the 30th of March and he has certainly been a lovely addition to our family. Though I can hardly say ‘little’ as he weighed in at 4.45 kg, which is nearly 10 pounds! Eek…poor me

Anyway we are enjoying him immensely as there is nothing quite like a cuddle form a newborn baby.

In my last blog post we looked at some of the main things to think about and some key questions that you should ask any speech pathologist before employing their services to help your child with autism.

After you’ve been working with your therapist for a few months you’ll want to know if the therapy is actually making a difference and that you child is making some real progress. This depends greatly on how good a ‘match’ your therapist (and the therapy) is for your child.

So today (as promised) I’d like to share with you some of the warning signs that may indicate that it’s time to find another speech pathologist who is ‘a better match’ for your child.

If you haven’t read my previous post about why this is so important please read it now.

As you know, time is precious and no parent wants to waste it when treating their child with autism! This is particularly true for early intervention. So it’s very important that you are able to determine as early as possible whether the therapy your child is receiving is effective or not… otherwise days will turn into weeks that will turn into years…and before you know it time is slipping away.

But fear not

Here are some tips to help you determine just how effective your child’s speech therapy really is… and whether you should continue with your current therapist or start looking for another one…

1. Does your child have a good connection/relationship with their speech pathologist?

Please remember that without a warm, trusting and fun relationship your child will not genuinely want to interact or learn from their therapist. This is essential for creating a solid foundation for all future learning.

2. Is your child enjoying their therapy sessions?

Two of the primary ingredients for learning new things and laying down memories are ‘fun’ and ‘motivation’. So for speech therapy to be effective is must be fun and motivating for your child. It’s crucial that your therapist incorporates your child’s interests into their therapy sessions. If your child is attentive in the activity because it ‘pushes their buttons’ then the quality and rate of learning will be far greater. So if after several months of therapy, if your therapist is not incorporating highly motivating activities into your sessions (easy to spot because your child will be bored and disinterested 8 out of 10 sessions)… or worse still, they may not even be aware of what activities actually motivate your child, then it may be time to move on.

3. Are there noticeable improvements in your child’s Social and Communication Skills as a result of the goals that are being targeted in speech therapy?

Can you notice a difference in day-to-day functioning of your child? Can others notice a difference?

The reason that I ask you this is because sometimes speech therapy sessions can seem to be going well ‘in the clinic’ but these improvements do not necessarily translate to the everyday functioning of your child…. and let’s face it, this is what is really important!

This can happen if the goals that are being set are not very meaningful and important to the child’s existence. In my opinion, the best way of speech therapists creating practical and meaningful goals is by doing home and school visits that clearly show the therapist what is important to target in intervention. If a speech therapist is simply creating goals as a result of carrying out some formal language tests then there is a good chance that the goals will not be practical and meaningful and perhaps will not target the social aspect of communication development. Instead they will just end up teaching splinter skills (i.e: following instructions, answering questions, requesting things etc) without addressing their application in day to day life.

4. Are you clear at the end of each therapy session what goals you are targeting in therapy and what you need to work on and practice before the next session?

I know you already know this but an hour or so of speech therapy weekly or fortnightly is simply not going to create the huge breakthroughs you want for your child. Whenever possible you need to be following up and working with your child at home. It only needs to be for half an hour or so but it must be regular.

Therefore it is crucial that your speech therapist is including a lot of parent training and education in your sessions so that you feel confident on how to apply what you’re working on at home (another really good reason why your therapist needs to understand what goes on at home so they can give you practical activities and exercises that actually work in the home environment). By doing this you will gradually learn how to make every interaction with your child a fabulous learning opportunity… which is when you start to see the big breakthroughs!! So if your therapist is not helping you achieve this then I’d suggest that you’re not getting the most out of them!

5. Lastly. Trust your own intuition as a parent!

Some families will say to me “I knew for a long time that the therapy was not right for my child and I felt like I was just handing over my money at the end of the session and not achieving very much”. If it doesn’t feel right to you then it’s probably not! But make sure you give something new a few months before you decide to stop.

A final thought…

Please do not waste your precious time and resources on therapy that you feel is ineffective or not a ‘good match’ for your child. Constantly review and challenge the effectiveness of your therapist’s intervention and make the necessary changes by trusting your intuition. I can’t tell you what a buzz it gives me to see parents who feel so capable and confident to trust their intuition because they have spent a little bit of time every day training and empowering themselves to better understand their child’s needs.

Please keep these things in mind at your next session!

If you would like further assistance in building your knowledge and practical skills to help your child on a daily basis and to become better at assessing the effectiveness of their therapy sessions then I think you’re really going to get a lot out of my Autism Essentials In-home Training Program.

As always, I’d love to hear about your experiences and stories that you may have on this issue.
Please leave me your comments below.

Till next time
Monique

P.S: If you liked this article you can always subscribe for free (top right of this page) and each time I create a new article I’ll let you know via email so you’ll never miss a thing!

Other articles by Monique:

• Is Your Child’s Therapy Team Really Working Together?
• Effective Speech Therapy… what works and what doesn’t
• What you should know before choosing a speech pathologist for your child with autism