Hey, everybody! I have a very special guest today.
My friend, Catherine, is joining us to teach us all about being a speech therapist.
So stay tuned!
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So like I said, I have a wonderful special guest today.
My friend, Catherine, is a speech-language pathologist. -Hi
-And we are going to talk a little bit about what it would be like,
kind of like I started my videos, what would it be like
if you made an appointment.
And I know that many parents out there
wonder and worry about bringing a child in.
So give us a little rundown of kind of
what it would look like if I came to see you.
If I had an appointment, I was bringing my child,
what do we expect?
Okay. Well first of all, the children can be seen individually
where it's just the speech therapist and the child
or it can be seen in a small group setting.
Two, three, maybe four children and a speech therapist as well.
The sessions usually last between 30 min. 45 min. and 60 min.
It all depends on the child's needs
and a child will be seen once a week, twice a week,
maybe even up to five times a week,
depending on what the child actually needs.
The small group situations are ideal for children who have social problems.
-Oh, so they can practice it? -Exactly.
So there will be two or three children within the same age
with the same kind of problems, -Okay
-And they can all sit together and work on their social issues together
-Oh, perfect! So they get to practice that with each other
and that way you're kind of maximizing it.
Not only you working with them. -Exactly, exactly
it gives them a more natural environment with their own peers.
-It just kind of depends on the need, how often you would see them
like in therapy, some of my clients I see twice a week,
some people are seen three times a week...
-Exactly. If a child doesn't have too severe of an impairment
they will be seen maybe twice a week, for 30 minutes about.
And when there are deeper issues,
the child has more problems, essentially, -Uhuh
-Then they will be seen more often -Okay, and so
So let's say I'm bringing my child and we come three days a week.
What does a session look like?
Are you talking with the child? Are you... you know.
-Yes, I'm talking. And I laugh because
it literally looks like we are just playing.
Like we are playing games, board games for three and four year olds
and parents are like,
"What are you doing with my kid?
You are literally just watching him do a puzzle."
-Yeah, like a babysitter. -Exactly. We're just watching them play,
Like, "What are you doing?"
So that's what you'll see.
Especially with the children up to like five-years-old
when they're still a little bit younger.
and you want to engage them so you're going to have a lot of games,
a lot of Play-Doh, a lot of bubbles for the younger ones,
building blocks, train sets, cars, very simple books like
the "Little People" books -"My Little People" -Oh, yes! Yes.
-"My Little World"... Whatever, yeah, huge huge "Thomas the Tank Engine"
it's huge as well.
-You know them all by heart, I'm sure!
-Oh my gosh, you have no idea.
So you'll just see the therapist there basically sitting with them
and interacting with them while playing these games.
Now, it might look like they are just playing.
It goes much deeper than that.
Because while the child, it is making shapes with Play-Doh,
I am engaging them in "w-h" questions.
I'm doing color labeling. Color identification.
Making shapes, labeling shapes.
Making animals, or you're labeling animals.
It's a whole slew of things that goes into -Got it.
-Just like a simple Play-Doh play-date, essentially.
-Yeah, and it's funny you say that because
therapy is much like that with children.
When I started, I started out working with kids.
And a lot of it's playing
but it's all catered around the main thing you're working on
whether it's socialization or whether, you know,
it's giving them a place to act out things that are happening at home.
-Exactly.
-So that's really cool -Yeah
-That it's the same, I mean, that's how you engage children.
-Yes. You trick them.
-Exactly. You trick them and they'll work-
-You trick them. I'm actually working with them very hard.
They just think they're playing. -Yeah
-Which makes them want to come back and always have a smile on their face.
-Perfect, 'cause that seems like a little play date.
-Yeah! Exactly. They come in, they see my toys and *
It's playtime!
-Perfect! -Yes!
-Well, very cool!
Well thank you so much for spending time being on and sharing.
-Sure.
-We will be doing other videos together
so if you haven't checked out those ones,
you're gonna wanna look at those as well,
and I hope to have you again!
-Yes.
-Bye!
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