Day: February 6, 2022

According to the ASHA Leader, a shift in the typical school paradigm of providing 30-minute group therapy sessions is increasingly being recommended to be adjusted to a more individualized and intensive frequency of service. In a school setting, because children are theoretically accessible for seven or more hours in a day, over five consecutive days in a week, the traditional, “one size fits all” therapy recommendation for providing 30 minutes a week to a group of 2-5 students at once is said to be limiting to a child’s overall progress and their individualized attention. It is said that 30-minute group therapy sessions do not fit with the guidance and philosophies from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) nor the

According to the ASHA Leader, one of the many devastations of the COVID-19 pandemic has involved the number of children in traditional school settings who have under-identified speech-language needs. As students have increasingly returned to “brick and mortar” school settings, outpatient clinics around the country have reportedly observed an influx of parents seeking out speech-language evaluations for their children by private entities. Part of this influx is reported to be due to school-based evaluations not being as readily available during the remote learning phase. It has been reported that in outpatient clinic settings, therapy providers often have the time and resources necessary for assessing a child’s communication needs in quick turn around from when parents initially pursue services. It has