Shortage

As reported by The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “there is a considerable national shortage of Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) projected over next few years. An additional 28,800 SLPs will be needed to fill the demand between 2010 and 2020—a 23% increase in job openings.”

As a result of the worsening national shortage, schools are increasingly unable to provide sorely needed SLPs adequately. Inflated costs press upon overstrained budgets, and school personnel is forced to devote inordinate amounts of time and effort hunting down scarce resources.

Not Enough Money

Let’s suppose for a moment that there was no SLP shortage. Let’s even imagine that there was a healthy surplus. Would that make the problem disappear? The answer is no! That’s because of an equally imposing hurdle– money, or not enough of it.

Aside from budget shortfalls, there are the higher recruitment fees charged by staffing agencies to find “distant and elusive” SLPs, and then once SLP is found, there are the reimbursements for transportation expenses.  The heartbreaking reality is this: there is less money available to provide the children the services they need.

The Optimal Solution

Online speech therapy, or “teletherapy,” is an innovative, cost effective solution that offers maximum flexibility by overcoming barriers of distance, unavailability of specialists, and impaired mobility. By extending top-quality clinical services to remote, rural, and underserved populations, Teletherapy may significantly reduce the SLP shortage, and alleviate severely strained school budgets allowing administrators to focus on other educational priorities.

Teletherapy in many ways is similar face-to-face therapy, but instead of sitting in the same room, the therapist and student communicate via high-resolution, live video conferencing. During therapy sessions, the student and therapist can see, hear, and interact with one another in real time, using webcams, headsets, and a live, synchronous online learning environment.

Save Money

Telepractice has exceptional value and is affordable. There is a mistaken perception that telepractice is more costly than traditional onsite therapy due to the additional expenses associated with clinical services, equipment, and adding a paraprofessional and technology.

In fact, the opposite is true. The online speech therapy provider, save for the computer, generally covers technology-related costs and, even after factoring in a paraprofessional, can be less expensive than what a traditional staffing agency would charge. And the fee for an online speech therapist is comparable to that of an on-site therapist.

Savings:  Let Me Count The Ways

1. Traveling expenses for the therapist are eliminated.
2. Traditional staffing agencies often charge a premium fee to find a therapist who will travel, which of course with teletherapy is irrelevant.
3. Relieves schools of other administrative issues and expenses by streamlining scheduling, easing tracking and reporting, simplifying, auditing and organizing accurate instantly retrievable records through the digital services provided.

No Compromise on Quality

Best of all, there is no compromise needed when it comes to quality.  Teletherapy affords schools access to top-notch ASHA certified SLPs, as they are no longer limited to locally-based SLPs, but can draw from a nationwide network of highly qualified, certified therapists.

Teletherapy has been used successfully since the late 1990’s in hundreds of thousands of therapy sessions across the United States, according to leading teletherapy providers. It has been found to be an effective and appropriate therapeutic delivery mode in 20 years of research by over 40 academic published studies, beginning with the Mayo Clinic’s 1997 landmark paper.

It’s a No Brainer

So, if you are a school administrator, and serious about getting that financial assistance without the sacrifice, your answer may be no further away than a few clicks.  Try it out, you have nothing to lose, but perhaps some of those financial headaches!

Challenges

It goes without saying that a student’s inability to communicate in the classroom setting saddles the teacher in numerous ways. And the problem left to its own will not only fester, but more than likely mushroom into other areas as well- academics, socialization, and low self-esteem to name but a few.

Stereotypes

How might a teacher describe students with a communication disorder?

• Aggressive
• Asocial
• Confused
• Disruptive
• Impulsive
• Frustrated
• Immature
• Stubborn
• Submissive
• Unmotivated
• Characteristics

However, beyond the mere description, it is imperative for teachers not only to label how the child is “being experienced,” but to recognize exactly where the child is failing.  In other words, “What exactly is the problem”?  The teacher may be observing any of the following challenges:

1) Academic Performance:

• failure to follow directions
• difficulty organizing ideas
• difficulty producing sounds or finding the “right words”
• Responding slowly

2) Social Interaction:

• hesitant to interact with other children
• rejection or exclusion by other children
• problem carrying on a conversation
• difficulty negotiating rules for games

3) Behavior:

• consistently frustrated
• lots of arguments
• frequently fighting with peers
• the pattern of withdrawing from interactions

Implications

Often students suffering from speech and language disabilities become frustrated with school and begin to suffer emotionally. Teachers must attempt to assist these children in developing the requisite skills to become socially integrated and academically successful, not to mention to help to cultivate their self-esteem in the hope for them to lead healthy, productive lives.

The Teacher Can Help

For example, assist the child with conversational and social skills in specific situations such as:

• starting a conversation or learning how to greet people
• asking and answering questions
• asking for clarification or assistance
• teaching skills necessary for social communication, such as how to read facial expressions and body language and expressions

Assessments

But sometimes despite the best of intentions, whatever the teacher tries just isn’t enough.  It could be that the child needs to be assessed.  The assessment process is multi-tiered, multidisciplinary and occurs in a continuous cycle—from planning through to final evaluation. Both parents and teachers provide valuable information and insight in the assessment process.

Speech Therapy

Often the assessment will show that the student’s challenges are beyond the teacher’s capacity to deal with it.  It is time for the intervention of a professional who will provide additional, precision-guided intervention to solve the child’s problem and put that student back on the road to academic and social success and increased self-esteem.

Teletherapy

However, there are school administrators that are at a loss to provide adequately for the speech therapy needs of all of their students.  Whether it’s cost, scheduling or just finding the right therapist for that particular child, school administrators, notwithstanding their concern for their students are increasingly becoming frustrated by the search.

An increasingly popular solution is online speech therapy or teletherapy as it has come to be known.  The wonders of technology have given new hope to school administrators and children alike by facilitating top quality, convenient and affordable speech therapy through video conferencing.  Whatever the venue of speech therapy delivery, the language and speech problems of children cannot be overlooked.  The potential cost is too high!