Parent involvement is a crucial component to speech and language intervention with toddlers. Your therapist may provide you with specific language strategies to utilize during daily routines or play activities at home.
Parent coaching should include joint interactions with the clinician, the parent, and the child as well as opportunities to practice the techniques with clinician support. After the parent coaching session, it is often expected to try the strategies at home and discuss the outcomes at the following session.
Prior to returning for the following session, it is important to think about successes and challenges over the past week. Below are some questions to ask yourself in order to prepare for your next parent coaching session.
1. What moments were successful using the targeted strategy?
2. What moments were challenging? Why were they challenging?
3. How confident am I using this strategy?
4. How did my child respond? What words, sounds, or actions were produced by my child?
5. What ideas do I have for next time?
By asking yourself these questions and providing this information to your therapist, you will be able to generate a joint, individualized plan to make your child most successful.