Thanks to the Internet, one does not necessarily have to attend physical speech therapy sessions. No, as long as you have Internet connectivity at your home, you can book virtual sessions that are going to be delivered to you at the comfort of your home.
We are going to explore some of the most popular online speech therapy platforms that you can get your telepractice.
Before enrolling to any speech therapy session though, you will first need to go for physical and autism assessment so as to rule out the possibility that your child might have hearing troubles or is on the autism spectrum disorder.
For these assessments, you can physically go to a local pediatrician and ask that they check on your child.
When they do check, they will tell you why your toddler has speech problems.
It could be that:
- They are in the autism spectrum disorder.
- They have receptive language disorder meaning that they hear you alright but have trouble understanding. They are therefore unable to respond when you speak to them.
- They have expressive language delay meaning that they can understand you but have trouble expressing themselves.
Effective Speech therapy for Kids Online
All these three classes of disorder can benefit from speech therapy. So let’s look at some of the best online platforms where you can get the service.
Betterspeech
This is undoubtedly the best resource that you can ever dream of when you want online speech therapy. At betterspeech, they have this class of compassionate and kind licensed speech language pathologists that will help your child speak.
This is not one of those BS sites where all that your child does is play online games that are meant to help them speak. No, they will have a real speech therapist talking to you while conversing real time with your kiddo.
Once you log into the website, you are asked about your state as well as hours you would like a session so that you are matched to an SLP who will not only understand you but also contact you at friendly hours.
Bonus Tip: They are all women. Not to say that men SLPs are bad or incompetent. No, but come on, we all know that female speech therapists tend to be more patient and friendly to our kids, don’t we?
Why I Loved Betterspeech
- Betterspeech is a site with lots of speech language pathologists who are concerned about the well-being of your child
- You will be given activities to do with your child before the next session. These activities are geared to helping your toddler develop their language more.
- The site has lots of female speech therapists who are kind and fun with children.
- You no longer have to commute long,tiring hours to get speech therapy. You can do it at the comfort of your home
- Sessions delivered can be recorded for future references.
Greatspeech
Greatspeech is another awesome virtual speech therapy resource that you can benefit from. Other than kids, they deal with all types of people who want to better their lives with speech incorporation.
How GreatSpeech works is that you schedule an introductory call with them. You decide whether they are a good fit for your toddler’s needs during this call. If they are good for you, you can then schedule a 1:1 zoom session with them so as to help your child.
Sessions take on average 12 weeks with two 30 minute sessions per week.Each 30 minute session goes for $65 which is a good bargain.
What I loved about Greatspeech Virtual sessions
- Friendly speech therapists who know what they are doing
- They are affordable
- Effective sessions that deliver and better your client.
Baby Sign Language
For a baby as young as 6 months, you do not expect that much language from them, do you? Well with the ‘Baby Sign Language app, you can expect them to start signing to show when:
a. They are hungry.
b. They are cold.
c. They need a hug.
This app is designed to help parents and their children learn a new language – signing. The signs are categorized by topics such as food, animals, colors etc. It’s easy to use and has videos for a better understanding of the gestures in each category. You can also add your personal customizations if you need more.
The site was started by three parents (Mey Lau, Lila Retnasaba and Brooke Parker) when they found out how intricate and difficult it is to engage and teach their babies to communicate their needs. A baby would be crying because they were feeling hot only for the mother to give them a bottle to suckle on. But is that not what happens with all of us?
Dr. Panda’s TotoTime Apple app
This Dr Panda Apple app will have your child exhilarated as they engage in interactive play that develops their cognitive and social abilities. It also teaches kids how to count, learn shapes and colors as well as giving them an overall introduction into the world of math.
Peekaboo Barn
The Peek-a-boo Barn app is a game that can help teach kids how to speak English. It has animals and objects for your child to interact within the game which will make it more fun than just reading some words on paper.
It will teach your child on cause and effect, sounds made by animals as well as create lots of fun for them.
Researchers Carly and Jeniffer Miller have written extensively on how the Peekaboo Barn game can help develop child psychology as well as being a great tool for speech development.
ChatterPix Kids
This app will allow your child to create their own story with the help of a picture book. They can make up dialogue, select different emotions and even change characters which also speaks about cause and effects.
The game gives your child the ability to have their images speak all sorts of words. It will be fun seeing your child enjoying speaking since they are being rewarded for it.