Professional Resources

Find a therapist near you and learn what to expect next.

1. Ask your child's teacher to put you in touch with the school district's speech therapist.

Water and snacks. Depending on the type of assessment and age of your child, these appointments can run long. Its helpful to ensure your child is rested, fed, and watered so that these factors have a minimal effect on your child's focus.
Any "supporting documents" such as lists of medication, previous assessment or therapy reports, referrals. You will likely also be asked if any known speech or language difficulties run in the family.
Something for you to do. Although some assessment styles and some children may need interactive support from care givers it is important to recognize that this assessment is design to discover what is difficult and what is easy for your child and that your input can disrupt the results.
A speech sample. Assessments are conducted in offices unfamiliar to your child and this alone can alter your child's behavior during the assessments. While therapists are incredibly creative in finding ways to engage all types of children (this is their job after all), it can be very helpful to provide the therapist with an example of how your child speaks when they are comfortable. You can record audio or video, bring in school work, or simply make a list of the words your child knows.

Therapy plans are tailored for your child and so each plan will be different. There are some aspects though which are typical.

Play. Especially with younger children, speech therapy can look a lot like play. This is for a few reasons, like, building a rapport with the child, repetition of speech sounds is boring on its own, incorporating multiple senses and contexts. Don't loose heart if your child tells you they played a few rounds of snakes and ladders in their session - it is actually for a good reason.
Speech homework. Speech and language development is a process and a journey - it requires time, patience, and practice. Some children find it helpful to have special time set aside to practice their speech homework - but if you are a little pressed for time consider using the time you already spend reading to incorporate speech homework. If you need some tips or inspiration - AAM has you covered.