Monday, October 26, 2020

As Halloween approaches, students are beginning to reenter our schools via a hybrid model. I have been providing services virtually for over a month and was surprised to find how effectively I have been able to service my students. Those students who come on consistently for their speech time are making better gains than when I serviced them in person. This has led me to think about the what has changed. Three things changed: 1). for the first time, as a school-based speech pathologist, I have parental involvement; and 2) because I  am situated in one place, my school to school travel has been eliminated and, consequently,  am able to make smaller groups; and 3) the combination of parental involvement and smaller groupings leads to less need for behavior management, allowing me to focus solely on my students’ goals and objectives. So if someone was to ask me now, I actually think virtual services are as effective if not more effective for a large percentage of students we service. However, there continues to be a population that needs in person services. Those are the students who don’t have the support they need at home to access the internet and participate in therapy and those that are not able to engage via a computer who are more severely impaired including those utilizing communication devices.  

We were told to be ready for anything. For us to be ready, we need to realize that virtual learning requires the fortitude for patience, flexibility and adaptability.