Does Speech Therapy Through Telehealth Work?

How Online Play can Support Speech Therapy Goals

Many families are surprised to learn that speech pathology delivered through Telehealth is just as effective as therapy in person (Musaji et al., 2021). Of course, keeping children engaged on a screen can feel tricky, especially in a world where so much of daily life already revolves around devices. That’s why it’s important that sessions are designed to be interactive, playful and purposeful.

In our Telehealth sessions, we often use fun language-building activities such as making playdough, oobleck or slime. However, there are also plenty of accessible, time-saving activities you can try at home with ideas found online.

Here’s an example below of a “simple toy” our team created that you can use with your child online.
It might look like shapes moving on a screen, but the language opportunities are endless.

Together with your child, you can:

• Talk about the shapes by naming them, comparing their size, or describing their features: biggest, smaller, round, pointy.

• Explore descriptive language: trembling, springy, stretchy, bouncy, slippery.

• Build vocabulary that links to what’s happening: rotate, refresh, untangle, balance, spawn, gravity, black hole.

• Describe actions: spin, pull, crash, smash, drag, roll, tumble, flip, move, stop, drop, catch, throw.

• Build anticipation: “Ready, set, GO!”

• Develop positional language: up, down, sideways, above, below, between.

• Use problem-solving skills: How can I free the shapes stuck in the net?

• Practise sequencing events using concepts: first, next, then, before, after.

So you see, you can build these amazing skills (and more) ALL WHILE HAVING FUN!