Whether you’re looking for your first speech therapist or transitioning to your child’s fifth, you should ask key questions before entering a client-therapist relationship.
Asking the right questions could save you a lot of difficulty down the line!
As experienced speech-language pathologists, we want to see you (and your child) thrive in speech therapy. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of questions to ask a potential speech therapist.
We’re also offering some strategies that will help you communicate better with your speech therapist—or even switch to an entirely new practice.
Click the links below if you would like to skip to an existing section.
Trusting Your Gut: Do You Or Your Child “Click” With Your Speech Therapist?
Although logistical questions are important, there’s one key factor in your decision to work with a specific speech-language therapist that you can’t measure.
Gut instinct.
Science has shown that instincts are not based on mystical nudges or hocus pocus. Instead, instinct is an evolutionary tool. Your instincts are a system of judgments based on cues and knowledge that aren’t always measurable. With instincts, our brains evaluate millions of tiny data points and then synthesize them into something we call a gut feeling.
Here’s what that means: When you’re choosing a speech therapist, it’s absolutely appropriate (and recommended) to go with your gut.
If you’re chatting with a potential speech therapist for yourself or your child, and something just isn’t sitting right, you may want to continue your search—even if you can’t put your finger on what’s “wrong.”
Speech therapy is part science and part art.
Scientific know-how can be measured by certifications, degrees, and other continuing education.
But to evaluate the “art” aspect of speech pathology, you’ll need to listen to your heart.
12 Questions To Ask A Speech-Language Therapist Before Becoming A Client
To choose the right speech therapist for you or your child, you’ll need to rely on your gut instincts and also on the barebones facts.
To protect yourself from difficulties down the line, ask your speech pathologist smart questions about your future working together.
Quick Tip: DON’T actually ask all of these questions. If you do, your potential speech therapist could see red flags when it comes to working with you.
Instead, choose the questions that are most relevant to you.
Many speech therapist offices have FAQ pages that answer common questions. A quick glance will save you and our therapist a lot of time.
What qualifies you to offer speech therapy to me or my child?
What age range do you work with?
Do you bill for missed or canceled appointments?
Are you specialized in working with my (or my child’s) particular disorder?
What is your assessment or evaluation process like?
Are there any particular tools you use in your office?
What are your favorite techniques for treating my (or my child’s) issue?
What insurance do you take? Do you work with out-of-network benefits?
Do you have a waiting list?
Do you currently have any legal actions against the practice?
Do you offer virtual speech therapy?
Can you prescribe medication and tools?
13 Questions Parents Should Ask A Child’s Speech Therapist
Can parents sit in to watch therapy sessions with kids?
How long are your sessions for my child’s age and abilities?
For how long do you think my child will need speech therapy?
How do you communicate with parents or caregivers?
What child safety measures are used in your office?
How exactly do you track the progress for my child? What are the speech milestones you’re hoping to measure?
Will you (or can you) collaborate with my child’s teachers, occupational therapists, or others to support overall development?
What do you do when a child doesn’t want to participate in speech therapy?
What styles of therapy do you use for kids who need speech and language help?
How do you make speech therapy fun for kids?
Do you offer speech therapy for kids with special needs, such as autism spectrum disorders, ADHA, or sensory processing disorders?
Are there any resources you recommend I use to support my child with speech development at home?
What are you doing to stay up-to-date on the latest research?
7 Questions That Could Save You Money Working With A Speech Therapist
Are you in-network with my insurance?
Can you work with my insurance company to get the lowest possible rates?
Do you offer group speech classes or something similar?
Are you able to work on a sliding scale based on income?
If I have to purchase specific tools for home use, can you help me find the best rates?
If I have to purchase medication, will you prescribe a generic version?
Do you know of any organizations I can contact that might be able to help me with costs and co-pays for speech therapy?
5 Signs That’s Not Working Out With Your Current Speech Therapist
Even when a speech therapist does their best, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.
And in other circumstances, you may discover that your initial impressions of your speech therapist were inaccurate.
Here are some signs that you may want to investigate a relationship with a new speech therapist.
Lack of progress. Although every person (and every child) is different—and progress is not always linear—speech therapy should yield some gains. If your speech therapist doesn’t have a wide repertoire of tricks and tips and strategies, they might get in a rut—leaning hard on one tactic instead of changing things up and trying new techniques. If that happens, your speech progress might stall.
Irregular communication. Appointments changed on the fly, a lack of transparency in the billing process, infrequent progress reports, phone calls that go straight to voicemail ALL THE TIME…these are signs of communication problems that will need to be addressed.
Disappointing rapport. Building a great relationship with your speech therapist may take some time. But generally speaking, you should become more and more comfortable with your therapist (not less and less). You may find that speech therapy requires getting out of your comfort zone. But if you or your child are extremely uncomfortable, the learning process could break down.
Inflexibility. A good speech therapist’s office will offer a certain amount of flexibility that’s based on clear lines of open communication. If your therapist can’t be flexible enough to meet your needs, you may need to look elsewhere.
Personal concerns. If your gut is telling you something isn’t right—especially where children are concerned—follow your instincts.
The Right Way To Change To A New Speech and Language Therapist
It can be very difficult to move to a new speech therapist, especially if you’ve already established a long-term relationship.
Here are a few steps to take if you’re thinking it may be time to change from your existing speech therapist to a new one.
First, be honest. Tell your therapist about your frustrations. You may discover that there are easy solutions to your concerns.
Ask to switch to a different therapist in the same office. If there’s more than one therapist in your current practice, the simplest thing might be to ask to change to a new, in-house therapist. This will save you the hassle of transferring paperwork and starting over completely with a new practice.
Make the change. Only you know the best way forward in communicating with your current practice. You may want to outright explain your disappointments and frustrations regarding the therapist or the front office. Or you might want to take a more moderate approach so that you don’t “burn your bridges” with your old practice.
Either way, be sure to keep scheduled appointments or cancel them with plenty of notice.
Ask for copies of any evaluations that may be on file so you can keep them in your personal records.
Check your insurance or see if your potential new therapist can help. You may need to know what changes might affect your insurance if you change speech pathologists.
Start fresh. Be sure to talk with your new therapist about your previous experiences with speech. Try to keep the conversation positive (after all, you don’t want to come off as overly negative and critical), but absolutely be honest. You and your new therapists can talk openly about strategies and expectations.
Final Thoughts About Finding The Right Speech Therapist For You Or Your Child
At All 4 Therapy LLC, we take pride in our comprehensive approach to speech therapy.
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