Stories

Imagine this: You're a parent to multiple children, one of whom needs regular speech therapy sessions. Each week you drive your children to the appointment and exhaust all your energy and creativity entertaining two of them in the waiting room while a speech therapist works with your third child. You aren't involved in the therapy at all, don't get to see your child's speech progress, and leave the appointment tired and unaware how the session went.

Maybe this scenario isn't hypothetical for you. At CCLLC, we've seen many parents in this exact situation. Parents like Elizabeth Huber, mom to six-year-old Isaak. Frequent in-person sessions for her son became so difficult for Elizabeth to manage that she decided to transfer Isaak to speech therapy at his school. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., that was no longer an option. So, she returned to CCLLC, this time utilizing our virtual appointments, or telehealth, for her son.

"I was hesitant to make this transition at first because my son gets nervous talking to new people, and over the computer it can be even worse," says Elizabeth. "But this is totally different. Our therapist, Amanda, is so kind and patient and keeps my son engaged through fun games and stories. My son is learning so much without even realizing it. He gets so excited for his sessions now."

This is the story we've heard over and over again at CCLLC. Parents and clients are hesitant to transition to virtual appointments but end up finding many advantages to telehealth. "There is an obvious advantage that I don't have to drive anywhere, but it's also nice to be able to listen in on his sessions now and know exactly how it is going," Elizabeth says.

And when parents are more involved in their child's speech therapy session, we often see quicker and more significant progress in speech development. Isaak's therapist Amanda partners with Elizabeth to note what is working well in order to tailor sessions to Isaak's unique needs and interests.

Amanda explains, "Isaak's mom gives me great input on his favorite games, so we try to utilize his natural interests within his sessions. Communication and coaching between speech therapists and parents seem to be smoother over the computer, since parents are in the room with their child and watching the methods we use. It's easy for them to ask questions during the sessions too."

During the transition to virtual appointments, Amanda and Elizabeth have both seen encouraging progress with Isaak's sound errors. "Isaak used to get frustrated very quickly if others didn't understand him the first time, but now if he messes up, he just tries to say it again, but clearer. He recently said a really hard word and I was impressed with his vocabulary but mostly impressed with his pronunciation of the word. It is wonderful when he takes his time to really say what he means correctly."

Despite the challenges that the pandemic has brought families in and around the Central Coast, the transition to telehealth has been a welcomed change for many. Amanda notes, "For many of my patients, telehealth is a successful way to target their goals as well as modify their sessions to include their interests."

Interested in starting virtual appointments? Call our office at 831-645-7900.