Speech Telepractice-Possible Use for International Adoptees?

Post-adoption resources are hard to come by. Acclimating children to their new language is a challenge that all adoptive parents share. There are not many speech therapists that have an expertise in the subtractive bilingualism that international adoptees go through. But what if those that have the expertise could deliver their services across the US by telepractice– to both instruct local speech therapists and give therapy to international adoptees?

This Ohio pilot program is using telepractice to reach rural areas.This program started in 2007 by the Ohio Masters Network Initiatives in Education. “The pilot program began with four rural school districts and 30 students. The research was designed such that students received teletherapy half of the school year and met with their therapists in person the other half of the year. This way, they believed they could best measure results. Clinicians had to learn to use the technology, but, overall, there was little that had to be changed in the actual therapy sessions. They could follow the individualized education plan (IEP) as usual. They could, however, add to the sessions by electronically sharing documents, software programs, Web sites, or anything else on the Internet that would complement the session’s goals.

The results: “Satisfaction surveys indicated that the students and parents overwhelmingly supported the telemedicine service delivery model…. Videoconferencing appears to be a promising method of delivering speech language therapy services to school children.” In 2011, the program is entering its fifth year, now delivering telepractice in speech-language therapy to 190 students.” Wouldn’t it be great if innovative ideas like this were used for internationally adopted children across the United States? Speech Language Clinicians Connect with Telepractice [The Journal 2/2/10 by Denise Harrison]

 

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