Speech therapy can be a vital part of a child’s development, especially for those children who have language delays or disorders, speech sound disorders, or social pragmatic deficits. Pediatric speech therapy can be provided at schools and in a private practice setting. Below, we’ve highlighted the differences between school therapy and private therapy as well as why both are important.
Goals
- School Speech Therapy: Goals typically focus on supporting the child’s educational needs, are aligned with the school curriculum, and address skills that directly impact classroom performance.
- Private Speech Therapy: Goals are created based on the child’s performance on dynamic assessments, may be modified at any time based on how the child is progressing through therapy, and are not necessarily tied to the school curriculum.
Frequency & Duration
- School Speech Therapy: Scheduling is based on the student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP); sessions may be shorter, and there may be fewer sessions per week.
- Private Speech Therapy: There is the option for increased flexibility in scheduling based on the child’s needs rather than school resources and the IEP.
Session Format
- School Speech Therapy: Oftentimes group sessions occur in the school setting. In groups, students may be targeting a variety of different goals.
- Private Speech Therapy: Sessions can be individual or group. Individual sessions can target specific areas of difficulty unique to your child. Group sessions are carefully planned. Clinicians meet weekly to discuss current groups and match students appropriately based on similar goal areas.
Treatment
- School Speech Therapy: Evidence-based treatment approaches are utilized.
- Private Speech Therapy: Evidence-based treatment approaches are utilized but can use a broader range of approaches, including specialized treatments like PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) and NLA (Natural Language Acquisition).
Signs that additional private therapy might be needed:
- If your child is not making expected progress or you’ve noticed a plateau in performance as your child progresses through school therapy.
- If your child is unintelligible to unfamiliar listeners after 3-4 years of age or if your child is still working on articulation goals after first grade.
- If your child’s literacy skills are being impacted by his or her speech sound disorder (i.e., writing “w” for “r” or “l”).
- If your child has more severe or specific speech-language disorders, such as childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or a severe phonological or articulation disorder.
- If you want more focused and frequent intervention to remediate delays or disorders faster, take a more robust approach to your child’s therapy, or want to supplement school-based therapy.
School therapy ensures support in an academic setting, helping the child succeed in school while private therapy can address more complex or persistent speech-language issues. The combined effort of both school and private speech therapy can lead to better overall outcomes. Parents and caregivers, it is important to consider your child’s unique needs when deciding on speech therapy options. Reach out to us here at PSLLC if you are unsure about the best approach for your child.