Teletherapy
Whole Child Therapy Services is now offering teletherapy services for speech, language, and occupational therapy! Teletherapy is a great option for families who are social-distancing or live outside of our coverage area, or who want to take advantage of the convenience of receiving services online.
Our therapists deliver the same high-quality engaging services to on your phone, tablet, or computer. There are many research studies showing that telepractice is an effective way to deliver services and that children make progress when receiving services via telepractice.
Telepractice services are available to anyone in the state of Washington. Take advantage of this time at home and set up teletherapy appointments from the comfort of your home!
How exactly does telepractice work?
Services look different for each child and family and is dependent on the age of the child, their goals, and what is being targeted during the session.
For children birth to 3 years old your therapist will use a combination of parent/caregiver coaching and direct interactions with the child. Direct interactions with the child will require a parent or another adult to be present to help facilitate the activities. For parent coaching, parents will be interacting with their child while being guided by the therapist (much like in-person sessions). Coaching is an excellent way for parents to learn and practice how to support their child in developing a specific skill. It is also a way for parents to understand how to increase opportunities for ongoing practice within play and daily routines.
For children between 4 and 7-years-old, parents will be present for the therapy sessions (just like our in-person sessions) to help facilitate the different activities and support their child in accessing the technology. We may also email activities beforehand so parents can print and gather any necessary supplies.
For older children and teens who are confident in navigating technology independently, we just ask that parents are nearby in case they are needed for troubleshooting during our sessions. We will also take the last few minutes of each session to check in with parents to review new ideas/concepts taught during the session. Of course, parents are always welcome to be present throughout the entire session!
What do I need to do to prepare for our telepractice session?
Prior to our first session, we will provide you with information for logging into the platform, troubleshooting tips, etc. If we are performing an evaluation, we may check the connection prior to the actual session to ensure we have sufficient audio and video quality for the evaluation.
For our younger clients, we also like to have families send us a list of the toys in the home. We will use this list to select toys for therapy and also make home practice recommendations. We may also select standard in-home items to use for the session and will let you know what items to have prepared for our session.
How will you keep my child engaged during the session?
We have a library of fun and motivating activities that we use during teletherapy sessions. Some of the therapy tools we use will be online and shared from our screen, others will utilize some objects, toys, and other household items from our side of the screen and/or your house. Before the session, we will be sure to let parents know what needs to be gathered up for our session. We may also email activities beforehand so parents can print and gather any necessary supplies.
Can we use a computer, tablet, or phone for telepractice?
We use Theraplatform, a HIPAA compliant and secure platform for teletherapy. Clients can access the platform from a computer or tablet with a web-based browser. Prior to your first session, we will provide you with directions for logging on and a troubleshooting guide to refer to during our sessions.
What about teletherapy adding to the amount of screen time my child is already getting?
Teletherapy services are different from the type of idle or stationary screen time experienced when watching TV. Our online sessions are interactive and socially engaging increasing the quality of screen time and providing for a rich educational experience. For younger children, for whom screen time should be minimal, we will primarily use the coaching model for delivering services where it is the parent who is most engaged with the screen.