Online Speech Therapy Sessions

Ivanhoe Speech Therapy is now providing fun and flexible online sessions. It is important to us that families stay safe and healthy and sadly our studio has temporarily closed until the social distancing is over.

Online sessions can be a lot of fun as we will play lots of games all in the comfort of your own home with no travel or parking required.

What are the benefits of online sessions?

  • Convenience – find a time that fits your family’s new routine
  • Continuing with your speech therapy goals
  • Provides opportunity to interact with someone else while at home
  • Breaks up any boredom that might creep in
  • Gives your child something to look forward to
  • Prepares your child for a future when teleconferencing will be the norm
  • Helps support a small business

This is all very new to me, how are online sessions the same as studio sessions?

Starting online sessions can seem a bit overwhelming. We never quite know how each individual child will respond to working together in front of a computer, lap top or iPad.

We aim to follow the same principles as we do in the studio,

  1. Sessions should be fun and game based. If you have balloons, board games, Lego or blocks, colouring sheets, articulation cards, pen and paper – I have good ideas on how to use them so we can play while learning.
  2. If the activities I have planned aren’t motivating or engaging, we will try a few of the other activities until we find what motivates your child.
  3. If a physical break is needed, I have some games to play to get a quick physical break – just like the hopscotch in my studio.
  4. If your child is not responding to an online session, or gets bored quickly and I can’t re-motivate them, we will cut the session short. You only pay for the time we were successful.

What do I need?

You will need:

  • A computer with a camera and decent sound OR
  • A laptop or iPad with a camera and decent sound - if you want to do your sessions outside
  • Space behind you to do some physical activities like hitting balloons, playing Simon Says, throwing bean bags/soft toys on target speech cards, copying Jo’s body movements etc.
  • Board games or Lego or puzzles – something to keep your child engaged in the session

It is good if you have a printer:

  • If you have a printer, I can email you games, worksheets, picture cards that you can print and use in the session or later for homework
  • Please let me know if you don’t have a printer at home as we can easily work around this

You will need to set up ZOOM on your computer:

  • Zoom is really easy to use but if you need any help, do not hesitate to call me
  • You don’t need to set it up before the session
  • I will email you 10 minutes before your session starts with a link for you to click on – then follow the prompts
  • I will email you a quick and easy cheat sheet to tell you how to set up Zoom

What do I have to do to prepare for the session?

The night before your session I will email you:

  • The time of your session the following day
  • A session plan outlining what we will do together
  • A list of things to have ready for the session. If you don’t have all of these, don’t worry – we can work around it. For example:
    • Articulation cards
    • Last week’s homework
    • Textas and paper
    • Any board game or the Snakes and Ladders game
    • Lego
    • Balloon
    • Bean bag or soft toy

10 minutes before your session:

  • Get yourselves set up and ready
  • Go to your email and find the email from me
  • Click on the link provided

How will I pay you?

I will email you an invoice at the end of your session.

  • Open the link provided in the email
  • Enter your credit card or savings card details
  • Once paid, I will email you your receipt (as per usual)

Can I still get my usual funding back?

  • NDIS will pay for online sessions as per usual process
  • Medicare has planned to provide the $53.80 rebate for online sessions after March 30th.
  • Health insurance – you need to check directly with them to determine if they will provide you with a rebate for online sessions.

What will a session look like?

Each session will be flexible depending on how your child is responding to the session and the games we are playing.

  • We will introduce 5-minute physical breaks as needed. These may be Simon Says, Keep the balloon off the ground, copy Jo’s physical movements, throw a bean bag/soft toy/stuffed sock in the air and catch it, star jumps, jogging on the spot
  • Each session will start with a 5-10-minute social chat/catch up. It is important during times of social distancing for our kids to continue to socialise and have a chat with people outside the family home.
  • As usual a 5-minute catch up on previous homework.
  • Start therapy
  • End with a 5-minute chat about homework
  • All timing will be flexible depending on how well your child responds to the session, same as per the studio sessions. WE aim to follow your child’s lead.

Here is an example of a session plan that will be emailed to you:
Name: George
Date: Wednesday 3rd April at 9:00
Session type: Zoom
Parent present: Ella
LONG TERM GOAL: George will accurately produce the /s/ sound at the start, middle and end of words, and in words with consonant clusters, 100% of the time in conversation.
2.00 - 2.10 Social chat /warm up – It is important during times of social isolation to continue to socialise and have a chat with people outside the family home.
Feedback on past week of home work:
  • George will accurately produce the /s/ sound at the start, middle and end of words
  • George will accurately produce the /s/ sound at the start, middle and end of words in phrases

2.10 - 2.15 Brain gym: Jo will do some lateral body movements and George will copy to get her body warmed up and her brain switched on. This may be repeated any time during the session if George loses concentration.
2.15 - 2.25 GOAL: George will accurately produce the /s/ sound in isolation.
RESOURCES: any game, jigsaw puzzle, snakes and ladders board game, colouring in sheet that George would like.
ACTIVITY:
  • Each player has their own board
  • Jo will ask George to copy her /s/ sound three times
  • For correct production of the /s/ sound each player gets a turn of the game
LONG TERM GOAL: George will accurately demonstrate manipulation skills to assist with sounding out new words and spelling.
2.25 - 2.45 GOAL: George will accurately take away the initial sound in consonant-consonant- vowel – consonant words. (MANIPULATION)
RESOURCES: Any board game George might have or the snakes and ladders (if you have a printer); dice and three pieces (one for George, Ella and Jo).
ACTIVITY:
  • Set up board game
  • Before each player rolls the dice to take a turn they must ‘manipulate’ a word by taking the first sound off and saying what word is left
  • Jo will say a CCVC word and ask George to take off the first sound. If he’s correct he can take his turn
2.45- 2.50 Discussion with Ella:
  • Homework for next fortnight
  • Any suggestions needed for home schooling
2.50 - 3.00 Jo to write notes
Jo to email:
  • homework sheets
  • invoice with link for payment

Will you record the sessions?

Zoom has the capacity to record sessions, or take screen shots. I will not do either without asking you first.

What happens if my child just doesn’t respond to online sessions?

There is absolutely no pressure to participate in online sessions.

If you give it a go and online sessions just don’t work for you or your child, we will cut the session short. You only pay for the time we were successful.

Tips to make online sessions easier

  • It is best not to use your phone, the bigger the screen, the more engaged your child will be
  • Find a quiet place to work – it doesn’t matter if it is inside or outside, it’s just better if it’s quiet
  • Make sure you are free from interruptions like phones ringing, family watching, pets walking past
  • Have some space in front of you to put a game on the table
  • • Have some space behind you in case your child needs a physical break – they can stretch, play Simon Says, do some Brain Gym, move about

Home Programs

Home programs can be provided at a small fee based on the time taken to create the program. These will be emailed to you once you have agreed to the quoted price.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions

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