What I ’ve Learned About School Telepractice

My journey as a telepractice speech-language pathologist began in 2016, when my family relocated to a new area. After spending 18 years as a public school SLP, I was burned out. I wanted a change. I began researching telepractice companies, drawn by the flexibility of creating my own schedule, while still providing services to elementary students. I will admit I was skeptical at first. I wondered how treatment would look and feel. How could I build the same bonds I had with students when working in a brick-and-mortar school? But soon my eyes were opened to a whole new, amazing world! Here’s what I—a seasoned, school-based clinician—learned are the pros of providing services to students remotely: It feels the same as providing face-to-face treatment. If you can provide treatment to students from across a kidney-shaped table, you can do it on a screen. Establishing lasting bonds with students happens just as naturally. After week two, one of my clients told me his “birthday wish” was for me to fly to his state to celebrate his special day with him. Making my own schedule gives me the flexibility to do other activities: I can schedule appointments during the day, run quick errands or pick up my children from school if they get sick. I have more time to provide quality treatment. No more high caseloads, large-group sessions or back-to-back meetings. Gone are the extra duties of lunch supervision and mandatory after-school staff meetings. I can schedule mostly private s...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Schools Telepractice Source Type: blogs