/ SPEECH SERVICES

NVSS School Speech Program

Ensuring consistent, intensive, and in-person speech support is accessible to all students, province-wide!

HOW SPEECH SERVICES ARE CURRENTLY BEING OFFERED

TELETHERAPY

  • Teletherapy refers to a service delivery model where clinicians connect with clients (students) online, using various videoconferencing platforms (instead of providing services in person).

     Teletherapy options have become increasingly available to schools over the past several years, and while this was a creative option to address distance barriers for remote communities, it is incredibly important to recognize that not everyone is a suitable candidate for teletherapy, and the majority of young children – especially those with limited attention spans and/or additional cognitive and language difficulties – may not be able to sit still and cooperate with somebody over a screen for an extended period of time.

    Now, this isn’t to say that teletherapy doesn’t work or that it doesn’t have its role in speech therapy – in fact, teletherapy can certainly be a feasible option (especially for older clients with stronger speech and language skillsets). However, it cannot match the benefits of services that are delivered in-person and it has been repeatedly shown that engaging, play-based therapy continues to be the most effective method of providing speech intervention to young children.

  • Webcams do not permit SLPs to properly analyze a student's mouth and oral structures.
    Professionals are unable to effectively analyze a child’s mouth and oral structures (presence, strength, coordination/function of articulators, as well as overall oral hygiene) over a webcam.

    Not all clients are able to interact with professionals online.  For example, nonverbal students and/or individuals with physical limitations and complicated disorders/medical histories (e.g., Hearing Impairment, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and Global Developmental Delay) may not be appropriate candidates for teletherapy.

    On-site professionals are readily able to modify teaching approaches when working with children in-person. It is also easier to adapt to specific learning styles of students (visual,  auditory, reading/writing, hands-on) and tailor activities to better engage students with specific needs (e.g., movement-based activities for students requiring physical stimulation,  sensory-based activities for students seeking kinaesthetic feedback, etc.) without being limited to screen-based activities. 

    Online professionals are restricted to what they can see and hear. For example, if a child is looking at something, the clinician will not be able to follow their gaze to determine what is capturing their interest. Similarly, it is easy to monitor and adjust environmental distractions in person (e.g., closing doors, putting away objects/toys, turning off a noisy fan, etc.) however,  specialists providing services online may be unaware of any distracting stimuli in the child’s environment.  

    Children with limited attention spans or higher activity levels may not be able to sit through entire sessions. Trained specialists are flexible and able to find opportunities to practice speech in creative ways. Unfortunately, this is extremely difficult to do over a screen, especially with a child running around a room!

    Technology cannot replace traditional face-to-face methods of teaching. There is no shortage of screen time for most children these days, and while technology can certainly be used as a supplementary means to enhance learning experiences,  by no means should it replace traditional in-person support. Large family dynamics and classroom settings limit children in their opportunities to interact with adults on a one-on-one basis. Speech therapy sessions offer unique and valuable opportunities for children to refine communication skills through participation in engaged conversations with an adult; however, online sessions remove the human connection component which is vital for learning inter-personal skills.

    Professionals often provide physical cues to help students elicit accurate sound productions. This is not possible for online therapists. Similarly, even with high-speed internet and sound-enhancing headphones/speakers, it can be incredibly difficult to accurately hear/discern students’ attempts at saying words/sounds (especially if they are exhibiting disordered speech). This makes it particularly challenging to provide appropriate feedback.

STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS

  • Standardized Tests allow clinicians to identify areas of communication that a child may benefit from intervention. Formal tests have been norm-referenced to help practitioners determine how a child compares to same-age peers on various speech and language tasks.

  • Assessment and therapy resources accounting for Indigenous languages are sorely lacking. This problem is compounded by a limited number of culturally-competent SLPs who are knowledgeable about the language and dialectic differences of Indigenous populations and communities. This can have serious and harmful effects for a student whose speech is misinterpreted as delayed or impaired, when in fact, the child is demonstrating completely appropriate speech that is merely influenced by his/her Indigenous first language.

    “Western assessment tools are not designed to be used specifically with Aboriginal populations and usually do not have Aboriginal children represented in their standardization samples. Therefore, their validity and reliability for Aboriginal populations may often be questionable. Biased assessment instruments can lead to misdiagnosis of these children.”
    - Sterzuk

     “Assessment is not a spreadsheet… it’s a conversation.”
    -     Irmeli Halinen

CONTRACTING SPECIALISTS

  • Contracted therapists travel to remote schools to administer evaluations and identify students exhibiting speech and language difficulties/disorders. Reports outlining areas of needs are then issued, including guidance on how to support the child. Unfortunately, due to far distances, large caseloads, and a shortage of professionals, intensive, on-going service provision for any given student is rarely achieved.

     

    “Communities noted that referrals for services often set parents up with a false expectation that services would be delivered to their child, when in fact, long wait lists and geographic inaccessibility of services can mean that there is no follow-up.” (Ball and Janyst, 2007)

  • Reduced access to speech therapy is a long-standing problem. Financial and geographic factors as well as difficulty recruiting and retaining professionals serve as barriers preventing many communities from acquiring sufficient service provision.

    Due to the shortage of specialists willing and able to commute far distances, the contracted specialists who are able to travel out to remote communities typically have enormous caseloads (especially for those working with multiple communities). Sadly, this often means that specialists are only able to work with a fraction of the students who would benefit from speech and language services.

    Additionally, time restraints (due to the nature of infrequent and intermittent community visits) often limit professionals regarding the types of services they can offer. Most contractors are restricted to administering evaluations and issuing reports with recommendations for school staff/families to interpret, understand, and execute. Since speech therapy techniques and strategies can be incredibly precise (and require meticulous attention to detail, not to mention a trained ear and a deep understanding of speech and language) it is a tall - and frankly, unfair - ask of school staff/family members to carry out intervention recommendations appropriately without proper education, training, and resources. Put simply, previous models of contracting specialists have left professionals struggling to balance quantity and quality of service provision. . . coming up short on both ends. 

    “The term ‘triage’ should refer to who gets support first …not who gets support.”
    - Northern Voices Speech Services

MISDIAGNOSIS OF A SPEECH DISORDER CAN RESULT IN THE FOLLOWING:

Negative impact on student
self-esteem.

The provision of unnecessary
intervention - wasting limited special education time and resources - simultaneously taking it away from students who need it most.

Pathologizing or “wronging” a child
and community’s ways of speaking
may facilitate a negative
conception of the language / culture.

Time spend addressing a wrongful
diagnosis reduces a child’s exposure
to other valuable learnings
during class time.

HOW IS NVSS DIFFERENT?

NVSS speech programs incorporate in-person support of highly trained Speech Therapists who are committed to educating themselves about the cultural-linguistic diversity and unique needs of each community. 

Students’ speech is evaluated (using assessment measures that account for language differences) and individualized therapy programs are developed.  Intensive training of school staff members enable them to implement therapy recommendations, ensuring that consistent and intensive intervention is provided to students requiring support.

Specialists often compare speech therapy to dieting – it’s not very effective if you’re only doing it once a week! This is why NVSS speech programs are tailored to provide students with daily speech sessions – to facilitate swift progress of skills during early learning years.

We want your school and students to succeed! Therefore, ongoing support is offered throughout the year. Instead of receiving a report and never hearing from the service provider again, communication will be maintained to confirm the program is running smoothly and student progress is being made.  School staff members and families are also encouraged to connect with the NVSS team to ask questions and seek assistance any time, as needed! 

Communication is an
exchange of information.
Connection is an
exchange of our humanity.

- Sean Stephenson

HELP YOUR STUDENTS FIND THEIR VOICES

Let’s Work Together!

Request a custom proposal. It’s time we give our children the support they deserve.