Re: Speech Therapy - parents observe vs. parents sit outside?

[Guest guest]

,

I agree with you. I want to learn as much as possible. Watching has also

helped me to know when things just weren't " clicking " between my child and a

particular therapist. This has enabled me to keep only the very best with her.

I just don't understand the parents who stay in the waiting room or leave to

go shopping during therapy. I can't even imagine what they are thinking.

Brigett

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My opinion with speech therapy my son does better with me viewing him from the

viewing room. He likes to depend on me too much when I 'am in the room and wants

to lay on me and doesn't pay attention to the therapist I want him to get as

much as he can during that hour .So his therapist and I agree that it works

better for that I view from the TV viewing room. But for O.T. I sit in

for that he does real good with me there and I help out more there on the mats

..We at first tryed it in O.T. with me gone and with me there it was the same

either way for O.T. but speech was different he did so much better without me

there .We'll really I'am there but he doesn't know I viewing him from the

viewing room over the TV. Just my 2 cents each kid is different and I look at

it whatever way works better for the child and that they get the most out of the

therapy.

Merci - 3 verbal apraxia

<renee@...> wrote:

I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you therapists,

please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how would

you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that way " .

I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE ROOM

while a therapist is " working " with their child.

Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

Thank You..

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

I personally attend all of my son's sessions and he is not distracted by

them. If anything we actively participate and prompt him to focus when the

need arises. Often times my husband and I will attend the sessions. Our

therapists personally appreciate this as we've kept him on task by being

there. He also receives therapy at school where he is 1:1. There are

parents who do not attend with their children and I guess it's because

their children respond better without them. As with every subject on this

listserve, it all depends on the child, the parents and the therapists!

[Guest guest]

Yes, I agree completely. Part of a child's progress will come from

the parent learning how to interact with the child, and to reinforce

at home during the week what is being worked on in the therapy. My

son's ST sits him in something similar to a high chair (attached tray

to keep them sitting) but low (feet touching the ground). She sits

on the floor facing him and I sit in a chair a ways behind him. He

knows I'm there behind him, but his focus is on the ST the whole

time. This works well.

, mom to Nate, age 3

> >

> > I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you

therapists,

> > please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how

> would

> > you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that

> way " .

> >

> > I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE

ROOM

> > while a therapist is " working " with their child.

> >

> > Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

> >

> > Thank You..

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Therapy session has a camera that is constantly on and they are video

taping and we are also in another room and can watch what is going on also.

It is very nice. Then we can take the video home and watch it too.

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Herrald

Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 11:06 AM

Subject: [ ] Re: Speech Therapy - parents observe vs.

parents sit outside?

In my sons case he seems to get distracted when me or my wife are in

the room during therapy but we like to see whats happening so we can o

some of it at home. so one of us is usually in the room but stay off

to the side and dont get involved. It would be nice if there were a 2

way mirror or something that would allow us to see but not be in the

room

>

> I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you therapists,

> please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how would

> you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that

way " .

>

> I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE ROOM

> while a therapist is " working " with their child.

>

> Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

>

> Thank You..

>

[Guest guest]

My son is 13 now, but still goes to speech and language therapy. Lots of bad

speech therapist doing the therapy for so many years, that he is still behind.

His first therapist wouldn't let me in the room. She made me wait at the

office. Now, I believe it is because she didn't want me to know what was going

on. I wonder if she was doing group therapy instead of individual, and didn't

want me to know. The 2nd therapist didn't have a problem with me being at the

far end of the room. The 3rd therapist was a man, with many cartoon character

imitations. He finally got my son to be intelligible at 4 1/2. The next

therapist didn't make any gains at all for the 5 years she had him. She didn't

know how to work with him, I believe. He had her last year and she didn't even

know how to write measurable goals and she had been working for the school

District for over 10 years, could have been more than 10 years. I think in my

school district they don't want the parents to know what exa

ctly is going on in the room, like it is a secret.

Good Luck,

Lorraine

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I had the same experience as . At 24 mos, I was actually a

benefit to therapy and my son would vocalize more if I was in the

session. But now at 28 mos, he is very distracted and wants to

engage me in play instead of paying attention to the therapist. I've

watched without him seeing me and he is much more engaged and gets a

great deal more out of therapy if he doesn't see me. Then she gives

me ideas for home to work on and tells me what they did in the

session. This is actually true now for OT and PT as well. If I'm

there he is more likely to get distracted or whiney.

So, I really think it depends on your child and where they are

currently at. The two way mirror is the best of both worlds though!

> >

> > I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you

therapists,

> > please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how

> would

> > you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that

> way " .

> >

> > I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE

ROOM

> > while a therapist is " working " with their child.

> >

> > Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

> >

> > Thank You..

> >

>

[Guest guest]

,

I observe through a two way window. When there was not a window I

stayed in the next room or hall with door open so I could see and hear

what was happening. That was always fine with my therapists. I wanted

to be able to see how they handled redirection and reinforcement so I

could better my skills in those areas at home.

[Guest guest]

,

For us to be in the room was not a possibility for behavioral reasons. My son

is MUCH less cooperative with my dh and I around. We started evals/therapy with

us in the room and it was a DISASTER!! We took a few months off, talked to a

behavioral psychologist and when we re-started we had to treat it more like

school where my ds goes off with his " teachers " , the OT & ST. However we are

able to watch/listen via a 2 way mirror and speakers. This way the OT/ST can

point out things they think are important for us during the session, in addition

to chatting after.

Martha

<renee@...> wrote:

I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you therapists,

please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how would

you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that way " .

I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE ROOM

while a therapist is " working " with their child.

Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

Thank You..

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

my son therapist came to my house there were 3 of them and they sat with him in

my front room and i was in my front room all so with them and he done real good

but i was on my computer while they were here and they were real good to him to

april / mark jr 4 years old

[Guest guest]

I was told the same thing. With our son I was in the room with thim

the first two times. I could see where instead of answering her

though, he would come over to me and try to get me to answer for him.

So I can see why she prefers me not to be in the room. (its a tiny

room to so there isn't a way to sit apart from whats going on)

She does come out after each session and tell me how he did and what

they worked on.

I wish there was a 2-way mirror though. That would be awesome. There

is at the head start preschool and it is so neat. We took Rhett

there for a " trial day " of preschool and we watched through the

mirror. Never in a million years would I have believed he didn't cry

the whole time after we " left " . LOL. But he didn't! It was something

I had to see to believe! LOL.

Janice

> >

> > I hope you all will chime in on this topic. And, for you

> therapists,

> > please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how

> would

> > you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that

> way " .

> >

> > I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE

ROOM

> > while a therapist is " working " with their child.

> >

> > Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

> >

> > Thank You..

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Well, the therapists we see through our state's EI were very clear from

the beginning that they expect the parents to be present during therapy

sessions. The main reason is so the parents can learn the techniques

the therapists employ and then put them to practice during the rest of

their time with their child. One of the therapists put it this

way, " My one hour a week won't do as much as the rest of the time you

put in with your child. " I think they also don't want to be treated

like baby sitters. Another point in favor is that sometimes the parent

can provide an extra pair of hands to help out during the session and

that therapist and parent can point things out to each other as they

happen (e.g., " see how he can say " d " at the beginning but not the end

of the word, " " does it look to you like he can't stick his tongue out

as far as he should be able to when making that sound? " )

I definitely vote for being part of the session, but I also think that

it's just really important to find therapists who " fit " well with you

and your child. A therapist who prefers to work with a child alone may

not be wrong in general, but if you don't like that approach, she is

definitely wrong for you.

>

> I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you therapists,

> please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how would

> you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that

way " .

>

> I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE ROOM

> while a therapist is " working " with their child.

>

> Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

>

> Thank You..

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for this post. I wish we could hear from more adults who

had speech delays or other issues. Adults (or teens) who have been

through this first hand can provide valuable insight to those of us

just starting down this path with our little ones. Congratulations

on your success and accomplishments!

> >

> > I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you

therapists,

> > please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how

would

> > you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that

way " .

> >

> > I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE

ROOM

> > while a therapist is " working " with their child.

> >

> > Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

> >

> > Thank You..

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I was just thinking about this too. My son's (age 4)clinic has

observation windows in each room. When he was just starting, he did

better with me in the room, then he started to do better with me out

of the room. However, I always observe him...in order to know what's

going on and implement some of the same things at home. I NEVER sit

out in the lobby and read magazines while he's in therapy. Although a

lot of people do.. I know we all need a break especially with kids

with delays/special needs but..that's not the time to take one in my

opinion

>

> I hope you all will chim in on this topic. And, for you therapists,

> please do post. I want to read your views pro and con, and how

would

> you suggest a parent confront a therapist who " doesn't work that

way " .

>

> I believe it is of critical importance that a parent be IN THE ROOM

> while a therapist is " working " with their child.

>

> Please post your opinions, observations and experiences.

>

> Thank You..

>