Choosing the Best Speech Therapist!
You are the parent. You know your child best. You suspect that your child should be talking by now. You think your child should have a bigger vocabulary but he isn't putting words together and he doesn't seem to know the names of basic items. Maybe you noticed your child stuttering and you aren't sure if this is typical for a child her age. Your child's peers can say the /r/ sound, but your child is not pronouncing those sounds correctly. Your child tries to talk, but she can't seem to form the words correctly. Your baby demonstrates lactation issues, or your toddler won't eat a wide variety of foods. He seems aversive to textures of certain foods or appears to have difficulty chewing or swallowing. These examples are ways that a speech-language pathologist can help.
A speech-language pathologist, or sometimes called a speech therapist, addresses all of these issues. How do you choose an SLP who is a good fit for your child and who will provide the best therapy? A search engine for SLPs in your area will yield many results. Take some time to look at reviews, visit a clinic's Facebook page and website. Call and talk to some SLPs. When you decide on a clinic or SLP, have some questions ready. Make sure that your SLP is a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. You can look up a therapist on their website at asha.org. Before your child goes for an evaluation, ask the provider for a therapist who specializes in the area of your concern: speech, language, stuttering, feeding, or swallowing. Ask what to expect during the evaluation and how to make your child feel comfortable with the assessment. Ask if you need to bring anything with you. Ask if you can attend the evaluation and therapy. Therapists should welcome you to join therapy sessions so you can follow up at home with different techniques and strategies. If you attend the evaluation session, ask the therapist what your role is during the evaluation so the therapist can explain the process.
Once your child has completed an evaluation, your therapist should review all of the results and goals with you in a timely manner. Be encouraged to ask about the goals and provide your input. Ask the SLP what to expect during a therapy session. Your therapist will make sure that the work is in a comfortable, safe, and fun environment. If therapy looks like play, sometimes it is! You can always ask your therapist about the objectives for a particular session and how you can participate to help create success together. Your speech-language pathologist should let you know that you are a vital part of your child's amazing team toward success!
At Sidekick, our therapists provide all of these services, and our SLPs specialize in many areas so that we can provide you with the best therapist to help your child. We love questions! We love that you are a part of therapy! We love that we can be on your team toward your child's success. Contact us with all of your questions and concerns because our SLPs want to be your Sidekick in order to navigate this journey.