What Are the Benefits of Teletherapy?

As a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who has been providing speech therapy services via telepractice since 2019, I love providing services via telepractice. In an earlier blog post, I already covered how speech therapy via telepractice is an effective service modality. In addition to that, I see a lot of benefits to the telepractice service modality and I hope that I can get you to acknowledge and appreciate the benefits as well. 

     I love how speech therapy services are accessible via telepractice. In person services require the provider and/or the recipient to commute. As long as the SLP is licensed to practice where they are physically located and where the client is physically located during the session, both people have a device (i.e. computer, tablet, smartphone) with a camera and microphone and access to the Internet, and both people are in a private place, speech therapy via telepractice can happen. This allows people in need of services to get services in a timely fashion when they live in an area where there is not a local SLP, where the local SLPs are not accepting new clients or the local SLPs do not have experience or confidence treating a certain disorder. Telepractice also allows bilingual and multilingual SLPs from across the state to serve bilingual and multilingual students and clients. Telepractice is a more accessible option for a person who has physical disabilities and has a hard time leaving the house to go to a speech therapy clinic. This is a more accessible option for a person who does not have the time, desire or means to commute to a clinic. This is more accessible for a caregiver who does not want the stress of transporting their loved one to a clinic to get services or the stress of having to make the house look presentable before an SLP arrives for an in person session in the home. Telepractice is helpful for clients who may not be in the same home in their state every week, for example, it allows children with separated parents living in the state(s) the SLP is licensed in to continue receiving speech therapy from the same SLP without having to skip a week of sessions based on whose house they are at and it allows people who may have weekend or summer homes to continue receiving services from their same SLP as long as the SLP is licensed where their weekend or seasonal home is. Telepractice allows continuity of care for people who may be traveling to a seasonal home or to visit loved ones as long as the SLP is licensed to practice in the states they are traveling to. 

     Telepractice is a safe way to provide effective speech therapy services without spreading germs. This factor is of utmost concern during the COVID-19 pandemic but even pandemic aside, germs are a concern all the time for immunocompromised people and clients/students who live with immunocompromised people. As we head into flu season, providing and receiving speech therapy services with no risk of spreading the flu is also important. If a student/client or SLP are feeling under the weather and don’t want to participate in an in person session but are well enough to participate via telepractice, telepractice is a great option to not miss out on a speech therapy session while at the same time not violating an illness policy or owe a less than 24 hour cancellation fee. 

     An advantage of teletherapy is the webcam can be easily focused on my mouth so when I am working with someone with difficulty accurately producing speech sounds, they have an up close model of my mouth when I am demonstrating how to make their target sounds. They can also see their mouths on screen and can identify if they are using their lips, tongue and jaw appropriately to make their target sounds. 

     Loved ones of students and clients receiving speech therapy have an opportunity to see what we do in speech therapy and an opportunity to learn from our models, try these techniques themselves and get feedback from us in real time.This helps the students and clients carryover their skills learned/practiced in speech therapy to their daily life. When using the telepractice service model, the students and clients can participate in the session from home, which puts them at ease and also facilitates carryover of speech therapy skills and strategies to their daily life. Hence, the students and clients may achieve their therapy goals faster than when they receive speech therapy in person.

     It is easier and smoother to adjust the difficulty of the therapy activities and tasks, or change the activity completely when providing services via telepractice compared to in person. This decreases frustration levels in students and clients and helps keep them engaged and motivated throughout the session.

     I used to provide speech therapy in person in the schools. I do not miss the therapy time that was wasted walking my students to and from class, going on a wild goose chase trying to find them somewhere on campus, reminding their teacher that the student has a speech therapy appointment and arguing with their teacher about why I needed to see them for their IEP mandated speech therapy at their scheduled time. Sometimes by the time the student is located and we get to the therapy room and get settled, there are only ten minutes out of a thirty minute scheduled session left and it is almost time to dismiss them and go get the next student on my schedule. There were even school years where I worked at multiple schools and would go back and forth from one school to another in the middle of the day. I do not miss the hectic days of running up and down stairs, down several blocks in all types of weather, hoping the subway was running on time and that I would make it back to the first school in time for my next student’s session.  Now that I provide services via telepractice, I am not running around like a chicken with my head chopped off to get to where my students are. As soon as a child is logged on, I can get down to business. If a student is running late, no shows or cancels their session, I did not waste time going to their school or classroom, I can use that time to plan sessions for other people on my caseload and write session notes for the sessions I completed earlier that day. I have more time during the work day to serve more people because I am not commuting to and from any buildings or spending time escorting people to and from speech therapy. Telepractice is a more convenient service modality for me and allows me to make the best use of my time as a professional and maximize my time with the people I serve, which is my favorite part of the job.