Learning at Home: Teletherapy

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Learning at Home: Teletherapy

When working or doing school from home, nothing is more important than planning and preparing. Teletherapy classes and sessions are very effective but do require some extra “pre-planning” work to increase student/child and parent motivation. So, how do you motivate your child/student to take their online studies and sessions?  How do you keep them motivated? And how do you set boundaries so you can do your work, and they can do theirs?

Habits and routine take time to develop and in the beginning, engaging your student/child to remember and complete their online academic studies and sessions will take a little more planning and preparing. It’s okay if during the first week or two, things don’t go quite as planned.

What Does Planning Look Like?

  • Each Sunday, schedule out the week ahead: make it fun! Use colors and stickers, include your child

  • Communicate with teachers about any online class times or projects due

  • Plan out 1 morning recess (15 minutes)

  • Plan out 1 lunch (30 min- 1 hour)

  • Plan out homework time (1-2 hours)

  • Plan out movement breaks (10-20 minutes of movement) every hour

  • Plan out brain breaks every 30-45 minutes (5 minutes of mediation, drawing, “relaxing” the brain)

  • Schedule out a consistent area in the house for school

  • Have all materials ready: computer, computer charger, paper and pens, textbooks, etc.

Tip: When planning, it’s helpful to use an actual timer (e.g., purchase one off amazon, use a phone timer, use the timer on the microwave). You already have a lot on your plate and make it easier on yourself by not having to track the time for each class, break, etc.

Next step: do what works, don’t do what doesn’t work. What I mean by that is, find what is engaging for your child and do that. The ultimate goal is putting the student in charge of his/her learning. Each child is different and will benefit from a different learning routine.

 So, how do you know if your child/student is engaged?

As a school-based SLP, I know that a student is engaged if he/she is actively listening, asking and responding to questions, following requests, taking notes (if applicable), and reacting (smiling, confused, shouting, etc.).

If I need to increase engagement, then I know I need to involve my students more.

  • Break up teachings into active learning activities: incorporate hands on projects and interactive online learning activities

  • Let the student practice what they are learning

  • Get them moving and talking: have discussions, draw/visualize readings, write stories, take virtual field trips, read different materials paired with videos, get outside, have your child design comics, create PowerPoints, play games, and more!

Also, important if you’re a stay at home parent during this time, Take Days Off!

  • Without clear boundaries of “home is home” and “school is school”, it’s important to still keep those boundaries with set “school times” and days off

  • Mental exhaustion occurs for both children and adults, so take time away from computers and planning as needed

  • There will be less resistance if a child also knows breaks are coming and occurring regularly

If you’re an SLP using teletherapy for the first time, or a stay at home parent, below are some teletherapy resources and tips:

Is Teletherapy effective?

Teletherapy is a feasible and effective treatment approach. In fact, I have found that my teletherapy sessions can run more smoothly and be more effective than my in-person sessions, due to the fact that the student as less stimulation occurring in his/her environment. For student’s with sensory processing disorders, it’s an ideal environment. It’s controlled, quiet, and in the comfort of one’s own home. Not only that, but the same materials that I use in-person, can be used online. I am able to incorporate games, share my screen to show worksheets, videos, interactive reading materials, as well as create shared documents and PowerPoints with my student to work on together. Lastly, one of my most favorite aspects about teletherapy is that the parent’s get to be involved! I can parent-train and model how to continue practicing speech and language therapy approaches at home and outside of sessions.

 Is teletherapy effective for my child/student who has ADHD, has Apraxia, is nonverbal, is in Early Intervention, has moderate-severe Autism, etc.?

Teletherapy is more challenging for certain populations, and that is something to be aware of. Children with apraxia benefit from tactile cues that are not possible through teletherapy. Children with ADHD need constant redirection and highly structured environments, which are not always possible when independently receiving services behind a computer that has endless amounts of entertainment. Children in early intervention respond best to child-lead play, which is more challenging to incorporate with teletherapy. Children with moderate-severe autism benefit from face to face, social language learning models, as that is often an area of great challenge. However, teletherapy is still effective and when done correctly, can show positive outcomes. If you have a child and or student with profiles such as the ones described, teletherapy may look more like parent training/coaching. A parent must be present throughout the duration of the session so that the SLP can teach the parent how to interact with his/her child.

So, what does this look like?

An SLP may have the parent and child interacting and playing with the child’s toys (huge plus!) as the SLP provides suggestions and talks the parent through the sessions. There are plenty of free online services to incorporate as well, such as reading books, looking at photo’s, listening to songs and rhymes, etc. The SLP will teach the parent how to read books, look at photos, and ask questions that will help to increase expressive language output. In addition, the SLP will teach parent’s how to use different types of prompts (e.g., hand over hand prompting, gesturing, etc.) to gradually increase independence and help their child learn new skills. Not only that, but an SLP can help teach a child about different approaches that work best for student’s with ADHD, Apraxia, Autism, etc. As an SLP is a highly trained professional, we are continuously researching the most effective approaches for such populations and will be able to teach and provide models for how to incorporate that at home.

  Examples of activities:

  • Early Intervention/Elementary School Age ideas

    • When playing with a preferred toy: take the toy away and wait for the child to look at, ask for, or gesture for the toy (expressive language)

    • Provide choices when playing: “do you want the car or the trains?” (expressive language)

    • When playing, ask questions: “Where is the train going?” (receptive language)

    • Parallel talk: talk about what you are doing: “The cow is eating grass!”

    • When reading, use repetitive books and/or ask questions and wait for child to fill in the last word. For example, if looking at a book about animals and you see a cow, talk about what you see: “I see a ___ eating ____” and allow your child to fill in the blanks.

      • When correcting your child try not to say “no, it’s a cow,” simply model the correct answer back “I see a (cow) eating (grass)” and try again. Do this up to 3x and then keep going. We want to encourage language and your child will gradually learn

    • Some other things to incorporate: nouns, verbs (jumping, walking), pronouns, prepositions (the cat is under the table), directions (“get your shoes”), animal sounds

  • Higher level language learners/Middle School + High School

    • Working on syntax/complex sentences: look at photos and describe what they see using conjunctions (e.g., because, after, before, until, unless, although)

    • Make sentences with vocabulary words at appropriate grade/reading levels (tier 11 vocabulary is the most commonly seen vocabulary words: simply type into google “(Grade level) Tier II vocabulary words)

    • Make predictions when watching videos (more examples below)

    • Problem Solve Social scenarios and activities of daily living

Online Platforms and Tips

  • Zoom

    • Good for larger groups

    • Screen share, annotate, give curser control to student, etc.

  • Google Meets/Hangouts

    • Good for 1:1 sessions

    • Screen share

  • Canva.com (make materials and worksheets)

  • PowerPoint (make materials and worksheets)

  • Publisher (make materials and worksheets)

  • PDFs and Screen Share

  • Smart Art on PowerPoint (make games and interactive materials)

  • www.teacherspayteachers.com

    What Does a Typical Teletherapy Session Look Like For Me?

    • 5 minute face to face check in

    • Work on 1-2 different goals (depending on student and goal)

      • Screen Share is my life saver: I share my screen to show worksheets, books, pictures, youtube videos, play games etc.

      • I create shared PowerPoints/word documents, or share my screen of a powerpoint/word document, to make graphic organizers and copy/paste worksheets to work on together

    • 5 minute review, answer questions or play a game online

    • Check out the two examples below of materials I have used in sessions:

I created a shared powerpoint document to work on main topic and main details and then shared my screen with my student

I created a shared powerpoint document to work on main topic and main details and then shared my screen with my student

I created a shared word document with a student to work on identifying “conversation hogging.” This is an example of me sharing my screen.Important Note: When taking data, I use Abbreviations: (I) = independent and (VP) = verbal prompt and plus’s (+…

I created a shared word document with a student to work on identifying “conversation hogging.” This is an example of me sharing my screen.

Important Note: When taking data, I use Abbreviations: (I) = independent and (VP) = verbal prompt and plus’s (+) or minus’s (-) , as reminders when reviewing notes

Below is a list of Free resources I have compiled together to use if using Teletherapy!

Limited Materials Needed 

  • Have your student/child take you on a “tour” in their house and describe what they are showing you: ask questions, play “I Spy”

  • Have your student/child show their pets and talk about them

  • Show your office and pets! Compare and contrast your pets

  • Play Simon Says (Following directions, receptive language)

  • Show YouTube videos or Movies (there’s an endless amount of short clips!)

  • Animated short videos

  • “Interview” someone in the family (Social Language + Expressive/Receptive Language)

    • Create a shared powerpoint or google document of interview and compare and contrast similarities and differences of interviewer from interviewee

  • Predicting and Inferencing: Epic vs. Fail: Ellen DeGeneres

  • Facial Expressions, making predictions, inferencing: Watch commercials

  • Perspective Taking, language development: Make Comics and create dialogue

  • Problem Solving Social Conflicts

    • Make some up! Role play with siblings, parents, friends, etc.

  • Self-Advocating: Make PowerPoints on interests/ career path: learning about self – likes vs. dislikes

  • Social Skills: The Social Skills teacher YouTube Channel

  • Following Directions:

    • Adjective, attributes, categories: “Go Find something round and red,” or “Go Find something that is a vehicle”

    • Multistep directions: “Grab a sock and then put it on your hand”

    • Prepositions: “Put a piece of paper under the pen” or “Put the ___ in front of the ____”

    • Work on different concepts: before, after, next, then, finally, under, over, in, out, etc.

 Speech and Language Resources

Literacy/Sequencing Worksheets/PDFs

All classroom subjects, Grades k-8th (music, geography, math, sequencing, comprehension, spelling, etc.):

CORE Classroom learning online *Subscription Needed*

 Games

  • Other Games: Headbandz, 5 Second Rule, Outburst, Bubble Talk, Would You Rather, Crossword Puzzles

Current Event (Reading Comprehension)s: Kid Friendly

 Worksheets (Grades k-5th + includes individualized Special Education section)

Resources for Activities and Learning During School Closures

 Problem Solving + Nonverbal Language Learning

Social Language Practice *Free for Next 30 Days. *Highly recommend for social sessions/groups*

Articulation

Field Trips

Virtual Zoo’s, Museums, and National Parks

Brain and Movement Breaks

Sensory and Physical Activity Materials

 Mindfulness Apps

Movement Break/Indoor Recess—Great for Kids and Adults

 Recommended OT iPad Apps for Kids

 Games

·      https://freeappsforme.com/games-to-play-over-skype/#storyteller-pass-along

 Visual Perceptual

 Puzzles

Yoga videos

 Recipe for Play-dough

 

 

 

 

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