Let’s be honest, when you bring up the idea of speech therapy for the first time to your child, the odds are that more than likely they might be a bit confused or even a little hurt. A young child might not fully comprehend what the word “therapy” means and may see it as something negative. This negative association with the term “therapy” may lead to a child automatically rejecting the idea of help.
Naturally, if a parent does schedule an appointment with a speech therapist, the child might be uneasy, confused – and if they feel forced into it – uncooperative. But without even recognizing it, after a while your child might begin to find it fun and interesting. This especially true with online speech therapy, which offers children a unique and engaging way to learn while participating in fun, game-based activities.
Here at SLP-tele, we often here, “How do we get our child invested in speech therapy?” That’s a great question that we are more than capable of answering. If you are wondering how to get your child interested in speech therapy, then consider the following information.
Getting a Child Invested in Speech Therapy
The speech therapist delivering the treatment needs to understand this crucial element. If the child doesn’t find online speech therapy fun, chances are they won’t connect with the therapist nor the concepts they are being taught. As a therapist, the key is to really get to know the child. This goes beyond understanding what conditions the child is dealing with but also digging in to learn more about the child’s personality and interests including favorite hobbies, sports team, school subjects, etc.
Quality online speech therapists will somehow incorporate this information and tailor sessions in ways that the child will find interesting. A child is more likely to be invested in a “Captain Marvel” or “Los Angeles Lakers” themed session versus a simple worksheet.
Once the child is more intrigued, there’s a higher likelihood that goals will be reached – and at this point – rewards can be earned. Rewards can vary in size and can prove to be an amazing tool for encouraging your child.
Of course, the real reward is the improvement in your child’s speech and language abilities, which can prove to help them tremendously in school. There’s also the benefit of increased confidence, which can aid in providing your child a better quality of life.
A great way to get your child invested is to create weekly challenges for them in which they properly pronounce certain words or phrases they might’ve had trouble saying before. Naturally, the bigger the challenge the “bigger” the reward, such as increased video game time or the opportunity to stay up a little later on the weekend.
Additional tactics to get your child invested in speech therapy include:
- Being physically active during speech therapy sessions and at-home practice allows your little one to activate parts of their brain that will help them better retain the information they are receiving. Additionally, they won’t focus so much on the “therapy” part, thus opening them up to the learning experience.
- After your child’s online speech therapy sessions, do some fun speech and language crafts. They’ll correlate fun with speech therapy and take to the experience much better.
- Graph your child’s progress so they can see the improvements they are making. Once they hit milestones, you can celebrate with simple rewards such as ice cream.
- Keep speech therapy “work” to a minimum to begin with. Longer sessions may burn them out and lower their interest in speech therapy.
Getting a child invested in speech therapy might be tricky at first, but it’s just a matter of changing their perspective and showing them how beneficial it will be in the long run.
If you believe your child could benefit from online speech therapy services, do not hesitate to contact SLP-tele today at 877-757-8353.
Our experienced and caring team of online speech-language therapists can discuss a personalized plan to help your child unlock their full potential.