The Role of a Speech-Language Pathologist
A Speech-Language Pathologist helps support students with speech, language, communication, and literacy challenges. The Speech-Language Pathologist uses evidence-based practice to design and provide interventions that facilitate student participation and achievement in school and life.
The Importance of Parental Involvement
A key piece to any successful intervention is parental involvement. Language intervention often focuses on teaching parents strategies to use with their child in everyday situations, thereby helping their child develop improved language skills.
Regular practice of individually tailored objectives helps ensure that a student gets the maximum benefit from intervention, and parents play an essential role in helping to implement these practice programs at home.
Student Services & Parent Participation
Indian Way School promotes the active participation of parents in “Student Services,” i.e., occupational therapy or speech therapy, valuing parents as the first educators of their children. A cooperative effort between parents and school is necessary to provide the most beneficial services for students. Therefore, parental participation in occupational therapy or speech therapy services is mandatory.
Parents function as “co-therapists,” i.e., therapists decide on the treatment goals and methods, and parents assist with the treatment activities at home in conjunction with the treatment activities of the therapist at school. We believe that parents who participate in therapy become more proficient at helping their children at home, resulting in fewer sessions at school.
Our staff is committed to collaborating with parents to provide a positive, productive, and effective treatment experience for all students. Parent/therapist conferences and progress reporting are ongoing when parent participation requirements diminish to keep parents informed about their child’s progress toward treatment goals.
Often, (in other schools) parent participation is equated with chaperoning field trips or baking cookies for a school event. At Indian Way School, we see parents as full partners in their children’s education, i.e., they should play a key role in assisting their children’s learning and be actively involved in the services provided by the school.
