Welcome to the seventh installment of What You Can Expect from Speech Therapy {A Guide for Parents}. Today, I am going to go over some MYTHS  about speech therapy.

 10 Speech Therapy Myths

MYTH: Under age three (or two, or one) is “too young to address speech problems.”

TRUTH: I just saw this posted on a website, and felt I needed to address this RIGHT NOW. This is 100% FALSE. According to the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) states:

“The development of communication skills begins at birth. Families with infants and toddlers (birth–36 months) who are at risk for or have disabilities should receive developmentally supportive care that addresses a broad spectrum of priorities and concerns.”

There is no “magical age” where speech therapy becomes appropriate. Some children begin getting speech therapy as infants where as other’s do not need speech therapy until they are 6 or 7 or maybe even 12. The age at which children may qualify for speech therapy depends on many variables but the biggest variable is the child’s current levels of functioning  in the area of speech, language, and cognitive development in relation to developmental norms. That means, that some children will qualify for speech therapy even as infants, where other children will not qualify until much later. But there is no general “magic age” where a child is too young or too old for therapy. It all depends on your individual child and his/her needs.

MYTH : Speech therapy in a hospital or clinic is “better” than speech therapy provided in the school setting

TRUTH: All speech-language pathologists have to have the same general levels of training, regardless of setting. This means, that the quality of your child’s therapy is not going to depend completely on the setting, but rather MANY different variables. The educational model IS different from the medical and private practice models, but one is not “better” than the other generally speaking. As an SLP who has worked both in the schools (for many years) and now in private practice, I can tell you that there are pros and cons to BOTH!

MYTH: A child qualifying for speech therapy in a private practice, means that child will automatically qualify for therapy in the school setting.

TRUTH: There are different criteria for qualifying in different settings. There are laws that dictate how children will qualify for educationally based services in the schools and therefore schools must follow these laws (which vary from state to state and then district to district). These qualification standards in the schools tend to be tighter than that of the criteria for qualifying for private practice for many reasons, so children may qualify for private speech therapy while not qualifying for therapy in the schools.

MYTH: A doctors prescription for speech therapy will automatically mean your child needs or will qualify for speech therapy in any setting.

TRUTH: A child first needs to be assessed fully in that setting and then those results will be used to determine if the child qualifes for therapy based on that setting’s qualifying criteria. A doctor is a doctor, not an experienced speech-language pathologist. They have only general knowledge of speech and language development. In addition, a doctors prescription does not guarantee an assessment, especially in the schools. School districts are an educational setting, not medical,  and have their own criteria for assessments.

MYTH: More Therapy=Better, Faster Progress

TRUTH: Not always. The amount of therapy a child needs to progress depends on a LOT of factors, including a child’s age, cognitive abilities, maturity, current skill sets, etc. There is a such thing as too much therapy. On the flip side, there are children who really benefit from additional therapy. There is no set amount of time of therapy that is “best” for all children and the amount of therapy your child receives should be determined based on your child’s individual needs and the setting of therapy.

MYTH: Individual (1:1) therapy is always better than group therapy

TRUTH: Not always. There are children who have certain disorders where 1:1 therapy is best, at least in the beginning (i.e. childhood apraxia of speech and even severe phonological delays). There are pros to 1:1 therapy for many children. However, 1:1 is not always “best” in general and in the schools setting, can go against the “least restrictive environment” rule that schools have to abide by. Individual vs. group therapy really depends on your child’s needs and the setting of therapy.

MYTH: Group therapy is the only option in the public schools

TRUTH: Speech therapy provided in the schools is based on an educational model. In the USA, our public education is provided in a group setting (classroom). Therefore, the most common service delivery model in the schools is the small group model, where children are pulled from their class for short periods with a few other children to work on their goals with the SLP. However, there are times when the small group model is NOT appropriate for a child, and they require some 1:1 instruction. This is not as common but is IS possible, if the IEP team comes to that conclusion. I have seen children in the schools both in groups and 1:1 and most children do just fine in small groups, though there are always exceptions. In addition to small groups a child may also receive services in a push-in model (in the classroom) or in a consult model (indirect). Your child’s services in the schools need to be determined based on his/her individual needs and this decision should be made by the IEP team (which includes you, the parent).

MYTH: Children can only improve their speech/language skills with the direct help of a Speech Pathologist

TRUTH: Not necessarily! In fact, sometimes the best intervention for a child actually comes from parents or teachers! This can often be done as part of a consult model where the SLP consults with you (the parent) and/or the teachers on methods that can be used to help your child. In fact, Hanen’s It Takes Two to Talk program was designed to be entirely parent education. Parents are trained on how to best work with their child so that they can provide interventions 24/7. In addition, some programs have very well trained teachers and staff that do an excellent job of fostering communication in the classroom.

MYTH: The best SLPs are the ones with the most experience

TRUTH: Not necessarily! The best SLP for YOUR child will depend on many factors and general experience isn’t always a deciding factor. Many SLPs in their first few years are super motivated and fresh and are AMAZING SLPs! They also often come out of graduate school knowing the newest “best practices” in the field which can be a great pro.

There are times when it may be best to go with an SLP who has more specialized training in the area your child struggles with, however. Stuttering is one area where having someone with more specialized training in stuttering may be a better fit for your child.

MYTH: A little plastic tool, vitamins, diet, etc can replace the need for a qualified speech-language pathologist’s interventions.

TRUTH: Be careful of any product that claims to improve speech and language skills or claims to completely replace the need for a qualified speech-language pathologist. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.

Like many of us, I have heard of children having great success with diet changes or supplements for various conditions.  I cannot tell you if any of these things will make a difference in your child’s behavior or communication, however. I for one am an advocate of looking into different avenues of treatment when it comes to your child and his/her medical/developmental issues. However, I must caution that nothing can replace a trained professional. So please be careful!

Those are some of the common speech therapy MYTHs. Do you have any to add?

To read the other installments in this series, click HERE. 

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