Is Telepractice the Solution?

Lately, I’m seeing more and more of my colleagues doing teletherapy.  For many speech-language pathologists, it is the ultimate solution for busy lives with kids. As one therapist states: “teletherapy is still a GREAT fit for me and my young family.  The ability to work from home and be present and available for my kids at the end of their school day is extremely important to me and being a teletherapist has allowed me to do just that.” (https://bvgslp.com/teletherapy-what-to-know-before-starting/).

Therapists enjoy setting their own schedules and determining how many hours they will work.  For the most part, teletherapists are contract employees - self-employed rather than salaried employees.  There are, however, a few exceptions to that.

A friend of mine, Sarah Wu from Speech is Beautiful even wrote a guide called “Is Teletherapy Right for Me?” (https://speechisbeautiful.com/2017/03/is-teletherapy-right-for-me/), talking about the pros and cons and things to consider.

Recently, a company providing teletherapy reached out to me, in an attempt to spread the word about affordable speech therapy provided on their telepractice platform. They’re called Expressable, and are committed to providing “high-quality speech therapy services at a fraction of the cost of traditional therapy.”

This is what they have to say: “Expressable’s one-of-a-kind technology platform connects families to dedicated SLPs specialized for their speech therapy needs. Live therapy sessions are administered online with modern video conferencing software that clients can access from the convenience of their home.

In addition to providing a cost-effective alternative, Expressable also offers many advantages only available in their online platform. These include the ability for clients to securely message their therapist 5 days/week, personalized and recorded home exercises for continued skill building and parental involvement, and flexible scheduling with easy cancellations. “

The owner of Expressable has this to say, “The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) approved teletherapy as an appropriate method of service delivery in 2005. The lack of overhead costs in teletherapy means that a family’s money can go further. Without the barrier of geography, a clinician with a specialty is able to provide for a client living across the state. Teletherapy checks so many boxes for both clinicians and the families they serve.”

I don’t know a lot about them, and I am personally not embarking on a telepractice journey; having retired to the quiet life of creating curriculum resources, but if you’re a speech pathologist considering a change of pace or a parent looking for a therapist in an underserved area, you should check them out.

“Research demonstrates that online speech therapy is just as effective as therapy delivered in a practice-based setting.”  And, in case you have this unanswered question - yes, it is available to AAC use.

So, check out the possibilities of teletherapy. The world is changing with technology.

And of course, keep on talking!

p.s. If you are considering or already doing teletherapy, take a look at my BOOM card decks for use on tablets, computers -even smartboards.