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What Is Speech Therapy?

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Speech therapy is a form of healthcare that helps improve communication and speech. It can also help improve swallowing function and other behaviors related to feeding.

About one in 12 children in the United States has a speech or swallowing disorder. Disorders are most common in young children, but many adults have a related condition. For example, about one million adults in the United States have aphasia (difficulty expressing or comprehending written and verbal language).

Speech therapists (STs) or speech-language pathologists (SLPs) assess and treat people of all ages. They use various techniques to help people with challenges related to speech production, language comprehension, hearing, voice quality, fluency, and swallowing. 

What Does Speech Therapy Treat?

Speech therapy treats various disorders involving hearing, speech, language, literacy, social communication, voice quality, executive functioning (for example, memory and problem-solving), feeding, and swallowing.

Specific speech disorders include:

• Articulation disorders: Difficulty pronouncing words or sounds such as the “s” sound (for example, saying “thun” rather than “sun”). This can occur during childhood language development or with structural problems like tongue-tie. A tongue tie is when a small band of skin connects the tip of the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. It is congenital, meaning it's present at birth.
• Dysarthria: Slow, slurred, or unclear speech. This occurs with oral (mouth) muscle control decline due to neurological conditions (related to the brain or nervous system), such as multiple sclerosis (MS) —a condition that occurs when the immune system attacks myelin, the covering wrapped around nerve cells.
• Apraxia: Knowing what you want to say but having difficulty producing the correct sounds or words. Apraxia can cause slow, error-prone speech or the need to intentionally move your tongue and lips in order to produce sounds and words. Apraxia can be present at birth, but it can also occur as a result of brain injuries, brain tumors , or a stroke .
• Fluency disorders: Speech flow disruptions like stuttering. Stuttering is experiencing interruptions in speech and repeating sounds, syllables, or words. Researchers are still exploring possible causes of dysfluency, but they seem to include genetics, developmental components, neurological factors (how the brain processes), and brain injury. Many children outgrow fluency disorders, but they can persist into adulthood.
• Voice disorders: Vocal cord spasming (choppy voice), hoarseness, pitch problems, or voice fatigue are examples of voice disorders. This can result from infection, overusing the vocal cords, or neurological disorders. 

Language or communication disorders include:

• Aphasia : Aphasia is a language disorder in which you have difficulty expressing or comprehending written and verbal language. Receptive aphasia is difficulty understanding written or verbal words. Expressive aphasia is difficulty communicating thoughts and ideas with language components like vocabulary, grammar, and sentence formation. Aphasia can occur with childhood development, language impairment, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), brain injury, or neurological disorders.
• Pragmatic language disorder: This relates to social communication. Signs include misunderstanding social cues like eye contact, body language, and personal space. It can occur during childhood development or with underlying neurodivergence (brain variation), such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) , a brain development condition that affects how a person perceives and socializes with other people.
• Accent or tone: While this is not a disorder, speech therapists can also work with people who wish to modify their accent or an unusual speech rhythm, pitch, or tone. For example, a high-pitched, sing-song, or robotic tone can occur with ASD.
• Executive functioning: Executive functioning challenges include difficulty with memory, planning, organization, problem-solving, and attention. This can occur due to brain injuries or conditions like ASD and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) , a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention (being distracted), hyperactivity (feeling restless), and impulsivity (making hasty decisions).
• Auditory processing disorder: This is a neurological condition that makes it difficult to make sense of sounds. 

Feeding and swallowing disorders affect how you suck, chew, and swallow food and drinks. Difficulty swallowing is also known as dysphagia , which can result in choking during meals—and lung infections if food or liquid enters the airways.  It can occur with structural abnormalities, muscular weakness, or neurological conditions like a stroke.  

How Does Speech Therapy Work?

Speech therapy involves techniques like language practice, pronunciation exercises, voice therapy, and swallowing exercises. It begins with a thorough assessment, including observation of communication strategies, challenges, and frustrations.

Speech therapy for infants, toddlers, and children involves fun and engaging activities like play, language exercises, reading, picture cards, and modeling correct sounds. This helps make learning more enjoyable.  

Parents or caregivers often attend sessions and learn ways to support children at home. The ST or SLP will tailor the treatment plan to the child’s developmental stage. Early recognition and intervention (treatment) can help improve outcomes.

With adults, the ST or SLP will begin with an assessment to identify specific challenges. They will then create a specific care plan that addresses underlying concerns such as:

• Medical conditions
• Accent modification
• Voice challenges
• Pronunciation
• Conversational language
• Problem-solving
• Memory exercises

What To Expect During Speech Therapy

Speech therapy can occur in a class, small group, online, or one-on-one. Speech therapists typically assign exercises to practice at home in order to reinforce what you learn. Activities might include:

• Vocal warm-ups like humming 
• Tongue twisters to improve articulation
• Breaking words into syllables to improve clarity
• Contrasting word exercises—for example, "ship" versus "sheep"
• “Pausing” practice (for stuttering)
• Repetition after listening to a native speaker 
• Repetition exercises for sounds like “s” 
• Speech rate control—for example, by tapping hands to a beat
• Pitch exercises
• Breathing and posture exercises

Receptive language exercises include:

• Memory or problem-solving exercises
• Reading comprehension (similar to a book report)
• Speech supplementation (written, gestural, voice amplifier, speech-generating devices)
• Word association
• Communication partner exercises, such as practicing eye contact and active listening

Exercises for swallowing and feeding include:

• Diet modification (pureed to solid foods)
• Oral muscle strengthening (like tongue “push-ups”)
• Swallowing exercises

Benefits of Speech Therapy

One of the main goals of speech therapy is to enhance a person’s ability to express thoughts, ideas, and emotions effectively. This can lead to a greater sense of self-expression, meaningful interactions with others, and less frustration. Other benefits include:

• Greater self-confidence: Gaining more control over language and communication can increase confidence and boost self-esteem. As a result, you might be more willing and excited to engage in social activities. 
• Improved academic or professional performance: Clear speech and language can lead to enhanced skills in comprehension, reading, and writing. This can support academic success. Better articulation, language, and presentation abilities can help with career development.
• Greater independence: Speech therapy can lead to greater self-reliance, especially if you have severe communication challenges. For example, augmented and alternative communication (AAC) methods , such as speech-generating devices (SGDs), can allow you to express yourself more independently.

How Successful Is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy's “success” depends on your goals. The meaning of success can vary based on your underlying communication or medical condition and its severity, as well as your motivation and commitment to therapy, the therapist's expertise, and your support systems. The time it takes to reach your goals also varies based on underlying factors like these.

For example, you may define success as improved pronunciation, or you may work towards more effective communication, more skilled accent modification, or swallowing without choking. If you stutter, your goal might be improved fluency or feeling more comfortable communicating openly with a stutter. For most people, what’s most important is to set realistic expectations and recognize that any improvement in communication is a success.

How To Find a Speech Therapist

A qualified speech therapist or speech-language pathologist holds a master's degree in speech-language pathology and state licensure to practice in your area. You can find speech therapists in settings like:

• Home health agencies
• Rehabilitation centers
• Private practice
• Telehealth (online)

You can also ask for recommendations from healthcare providers or school personnel who may know local speech therapists. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) also offers an online directory of certified speech therapies to help you locate someone in your area.

Check with your health insurance provider to see if they cover speech therapy. They can provide you with information about your co-payments and deductibles. If your insurance doesn't cover the cost, the clinic or speech therapist may offer payment plans . Some children may also qualify for:

• Individualized education programs (IEPs) that cover speech therapy costs as a service from the school district
• Early intervention (EI) or Preschool on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) programs for infants and toddlers for little or no cost to families
• State and federal programs, like Medicaid
• Financial assistance programs from non-profit and advocate organizations

A Quick Review

Speech therapy is a specialized healthcare field in which trained professionals help improve speech, language, hearing, swallowing, and feeding for people of all ages. Speech therapists (STs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) thoroughly assess and develop specific treatment plans for a wide range of conditions including difficulty communicating or processing language, stuttering, and voice disorders.

Speech therapy takes place in locations like schools, hospitals, and private practice. It can be one-on-one or in a group setting. Success depends on underlying factors such as the severity of the condition. It also depends on personal goals and your definition of success—which can vary widely from person to person.

Many people who have speech therapy experience powerful benefits that affect them in nearly every aspect of life, including greater self-confidence and self-reliance.

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Quick statistics about voice, speech, language .

Houtrow A, Murphy N. Prescribing physical, occupational, and speech therapy services for children with disabilities . Pediatrics ; 143 (4): e20190285. doi:10.1542/peds.2019-0285

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Who are speech-language pathologists, and what do they do? .

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Stuttering .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Stuttering .

Law J, Dennis JA, Charlton JJ. Speech and language therapy interventions for children with primary speech and/or language disorders . The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews . 2017 (1). doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012490

Krekeler BN, Weycker JM, Connor NP. Effects of tongue exercise frequency on tongue muscle biology and swallowing physiology in a rat Model . Dysphagia . 2020; 35 (6):918. doi:10.1007/s00455-020-10105-2

National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Speech and language developmental milestones .

National Institute of Health Clinical Center. Speech and language pathology .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Dysarthria in adult

Brady MC, Kelly H, Godwin J, Enderby P, Campbell P. Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke . The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews . 2016 (6). doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000425.pub4

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Scope of practice in speech-language pathology .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Help finding a professional .

Related Articles

Speech Therapy: What to Expect and How to Ask for What You Want

 6 min read

If a loved one has suffered a stroke or a brain injury, or has a neurological disease that affects communication, you may find yourself suddenly enrolled in speech therapy.

It’s something nobody wants to need, but if your loved one needs it, speech therapy quickly becomes something you can’t get enough of. Limited availability, caps on funding, and a front-loaded medical system can make families feel as though the time they spend in speech therapy is far too short.

Here are some tips for making the most of the time you have in speech therapy.

Join In or Wait Outside During Speech Therapy Sessions?

The first question that comes up when you take your partner to therapy is whether you should stay in the room for the session.

Most of the time, it’s best for you to stay. You’ll see what the therapist does and learn how to do the same thing at home. The clinician can verify that you have the right information, teach you strategies, and even train you to be a better communication partner.

It may be best to leave the room though if your loved one is distracted by your presence, always looks to you for answers, or doesn’t try to participate.

The first session or two will probably be filled with tests, and it’s important that you don’t help or speak during the assessments. If you can sit quietly, it should be okay to be there. Your therapist will let you know otherwise.

Being a caregiver can be exhausting, and an hour of speech therapy may seem like a great time for you to run errands. But you’ll both get far more out of the experience if you stick around. If you need time to yourself, look for an adult daycare, a volunteer, or a respite program that can give you the break you need.

“I personally am very glad that I was able to sit in and observe my husband’s speech therapy. It proved invaluable to me, as I would be the one to support him in his therapy at home. I learned so much from his Speech Therapist and was able to truly see where my husband was struggling. I can now recognize his frustration when he has trouble and we work through it.” – Theresa Romijn, wife of a stroke survivor

Why All the Tests?

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) or Speech-language therapists (SLTs) often have to administer standardized tests to determine their clients’ eligibility for speech therapy. They also need to gather baseline data, to learn what the clients can do before starting speech therapy, and to know where to begin.

Unfortunately, many tests don’t allow any help or confirmation of correct answers. This can make these tests a bit nerve-wracking. Don’t worry—the tests will help the therapist understand your loved one’s needs. They won’t last long, and your partner can’t “fail” them. Once they’re over, your loved one can spend the rest of the speech therapy time focused on getting better.

Goal-Focused Speech Therapy

After the tests, the SLP will set goals to guide your loved one’s speech therapy.

Therapists set what are called  SMART goals . A SMART goal is:

• Specific —the goal is clear and unambiguous
• Measurable —the goal can be seen and measured in a concrete way
• Attainable —the goal is realistic; it may be challenging, but it’s not out of reach
• Relevant —the goal is worthwhile; it supports and is aligned with other goals, and team members buy into it
• Time-based —the goal has a specific target date. Figure 1. SMART goals are useful in many areas of life. When a goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based, it creates a sense of optimism and urgency and gets you ready for success.

Unless a goal meets all five criteria (i.e., it’s specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based), it’s not likely to be helpful. You may not even know whether you’ve attained it.

When asked about their goals for speech therapy, clients and their families often say they want to “get back to normal.” While understandable, this is neither a specific nor a measurable goal for therapy. What does “normal” mean? How long will you wait before deciding whether you’re there? How will you know you’re there?

SMART goals for therapy might be something like:

• Client will use a first-letter self-cueing strategy when unable to think of a word in conversation at least 75% of the time within two weeks.
• Client will independently repeat unclear speech using a slower rate when not understood on 80% of occasions within three weeks. 

As a first step, your loved one should try to identify exactly what he or she wants to achieve in the next few weeks or months. Once you have a goal, you and your partner can develop a plan for reaching it. If you don’t know what’s realistic, ask your therapist for advice. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wisely said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

It’s a Goal! Setting Patient-Centered Speech Therapy Goals for Aphasia Rehabilitation

 7 min read

What is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy comes in many forms. A comprehensive therapy plan often includes four components:

Remediation

Compensation, participation.

Your loved one will probably be given exercises that  remediate , or help improve the underlying problem. These exercises are opportunities to practice—in a supportive environment—the exact things he or she has trouble with.

Your loved one will probably have to repeat these exercises many times before the brain or behavior will change. Expect  homework  between speech therapy sessions.

Some people think therapy should be dedicated solely to remediation. Depending on the nature of the problem, this isn’t always the best approach. Instead of restoring abilities, some forms of speech therapy focus on preserving other abilities, or on using intact skills to compensate for impairments.

Most speech therapy plans include  compensatory strategies , which help a person make up for lost abilities. These are meant to teach skills you and your partner can use when it becomes difficult to communicate or think clearly.

Whether we realize it or not, we all use compensatory strategies. Many of us write our appointments in calendars so we don’t forget them, mentally scan through the alphabet when we can’t think of someone’s name, or repeat what we’ve said a bit louder when someone doesn’t hear us.

In speech therapy, your loved one will learn and practice compensatory strategies specific to their needs.

Communication disorders are complex and emotional. A large part of speech therapy is therefore dedicated to education and counseling. Understanding the disorder and coming to accept its impact are important parts of the therapeutic process.

Your therapist may provide anatomical diagrams, brochures, websites, and other resources to help you and your partner understand what’s happening and why. He or she may also refer your loved one to other professionals or support groups that can help.

The end goal of therapy is to restore a person to full participation in life. Speech therapy therefore includes activities intended to help your loved one  generalize  or  transfer  (i.e., carry over) the skills learned in the therapy clinic into the outside world.

Once your partner has mastered speaking clearly in words, phrases, sentences, and conversations, for example, he or she may be asked to try speaking on the phone or speaking with strangers.

Working in partnership often results in the most effective speech therapy, so speak up! Although your SLP is highly trained, knowledgeable, and an expert in communication disorders, you and your partner are the experts in your partner.

The therapist should ask about your loved one’s goals before deciding what to work on. If you or your partner have questions about what’s going on, or disagree with something, don’t be afraid to speak up.

The therapist wants to help, and gains nothing by providing less than effective therapy. He or she is not a mind reader. Get the most from your sessions by communicating openly and working collaboratively with the therapist.

When you and your loved one set SMART goals, and talk about remediation, compensation, education, and participation, you and your therapist are all speaking the same language.

With a Tactus Therapy app, you can get more repetitions and practice in between speech therapy sessions—and this can help speed up your progress. We have a wide range of apps for speech therapy to cover many goals and abilities. Use our  App Finder  to find the right apps for you.

If you liked this article, Share It !

Megan S. Sutton , MS, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and co-founder of Tactus Therapy. She is an international speaker, writer, and educator on the use of technology in adult medical speech therapy. Megan believes that technology plays a critical role in improving aphasia outcomes and humanizing clinical services.

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In brief: what is speech therapy.

Created: August 12, 2020 ; Next update: 2024.

Speech therapy can help people who have difficulty speaking to communicate better and to break down the barriers that result from speech impediments. The goals of speech therapy include improving pronunciation, strengthening the muscles used in speech, and learning to speak correctly.

Speech therapy can be used for a lot of different speech problems and disorders, from smaller problems like a hoarse voice up to partial loss of speech due to brain damage. Depending on the type of disorder, other medical or psychological treatments may be used as well.

• What kinds of disorders can speech therapy treat?

Speech therapy can be used to treat language disorders, speech disorders and swallowing problems.

Language disorders

A childhood language disorder can affect the child’s ability to learn to speak, to name objects and build complete sentences. Although the causes of these disorders are often not clear, the main known risk factors include hearing problems , general developmental problems and disorders affecting the development of the brain.

Language disorders in adults are almost always the result of brain injury or disease. People who have had a stroke , for example, often have trouble forming sentences or remembering words. That type of disorder is called aphasia.

Speech disorders

People with speech disorders have difficulty producing the sounds of speech, saying words clearly or talking fluently.

Children often have trouble with pronunciation, and may have a lisp or swap certain sounds for others. Speech disorders may be the result of developmental disorders, but psychological factors might also play a role. Adults with neurological diseases sometimes have speech disorders too, often making it hard to understand them.

Another group of speech disorders, known as fluency disorders, involve problems with the flow or evenness of speech. People with this sort of disorder may stutter or “clutter,” for example. When people stutter, there are often silent pauses in their speech, or they repeat or lengthen certain sounds or syllables. Cluttering is abnormally fast speech that makes the pronunciation imprecise or leaves out sounds or parts of words.

Voice disorders (dysphonia)

A voice disorder is a persistent change in someone’s voice. They might sound hoarse, strained, raspy or nearly silent. Often the voice is somewhat weak – in other words, it cracks easily or the person is not able to speak loudly. Voice disorders may arise from speaking too much or too loudly, from using the wrong breathing technique, or from problems with the voice box (larynx) like vocal nodules . Psychological causes like depression or a reaction to a distressing event can change a person’s voice too.

Trouble swallowing

In people with swallowing problems, the movements of the muscles involved in swallowing are affected. This leads to problems transporting food through the mouth and throat. The cause is often a disease or disorder of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease , multiple sclerosis, dementia , an infection like Lyme disease or tetanus, or a head injury. If food gets into the lungs because of a swallowing disorder, it can lead to life-threatening complications.

What treatments are used in speech therapy?

There are various speech therapy techniques for each of the areas described above – the ones that are considered depend on the particular disorder. A long series of treatment sessions is typically needed, with each lasting 30 to 60 minutes. They may take place in a group or one-on-one.

The treatment approaches used in speech therapy include:

• Perception exercises, for example to differentiate between individual sounds and syllables
• Exercises to produce certain sounds and improve the fluency of speech
• Exercises to improve breathing, swallowing and the voice
• Help with communication using things like sign language, communication boards and computer-assisted speech
• Advice for people who need speech therapy, their parents and other loved ones
• Support in implementing these measures in everyday life

For the treatment to help over the long term, it’s often important to also regularly practice the techniques at home.

• Where is speech therapy offered?

Speech therapy is offered at the following facilities:

• Speech therapy practices
• Rehabilitative care centers
• Special needs schools
• Children's day care facilities specializing in speech therapy

Besides speech therapists, there are a number of other specialists who also use similar methods. These include breathing, speech and voice coaches.

• Do statutory health insurers cover the costs of speech therapy?

Note: The procedures and requirements for applying for and receiving speech therapy may vary according to your country. This information describes the current situation in Germany.

To have outpatient treatment at a speech therapy practice, you need a prescription from a doctor. An initial prescription will generally include up to 10 treatments, each typically lasting 30 to 60 minutes. Appointments are usually offered one to three times per week.

For the medical conditions listed above, prescribed speech therapy is often covered by statutory health insurers (apart from a fixed amount that you have to pay yourself, known as a copayment). The copayment does not have to be paid when getting a treatment that has been prescribed for children. If speech therapy is given as a part of rehabilitative care, an accident insurer or pension fund will cover the costs.

The copayment that you have to pay for yourself is 10 euros per prescription plus 10% of the treatment costs. If each treatment costs 55 euros, for example, for ten treatments you would have to pay 65 euros (the basic fee of 10 euros per prescription plus 10 x 5.50 euros).

Some speech therapists may offer certain treatments without a prescription. You then have to pay for all of the costs yourself. In Germany, these are known as individual health care services (individuelle Gesundheitsleistungen, or IGeL for short).

The German Federal Association of Speech Therapists (DBL) has a search function for speech therapists on their website (in German).

• Bode H, Schröder H, Waltersbacher A (Ed). Heilmittel-Report 2008. Ergotherapie, Logopädie, Physiotherapie: Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Stuttgart: Schattauer; 2008.
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachheilpädagogik (DGS). Ausbildung in der Sprachheilpädagogik .
• Deutscher Bundesverband für akademische Sprachtherapie und Logopädie (dbs). Der Verband [ dbs homepage ]. 2020.
• Deutscher Bundesverband für Logopädie (dbl). Logopädie . 2020.
• Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss (G-BA). Richtlinie über die Verordnung von Heilmitteln in der vertragsärztlichen Versorgung (Heilmittel-Richtlinie/HeilM-RL) . July 1, 2020.
• Verband der Ersatzkassen (vdek). Rahmenvertrag zwischen LOGO Deutschland und den Ersatzkassen über die Versorgung mit Leistungen der Stimm-, Sprech- und Sprachtherapie. Anlage 1: Leistungsbeschreibung . June 1, 2017.

IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health care services.

Because IQWiG is a German institute, some of the information provided here is specific to the German health care system. The suitability of any of the described options in an individual case can be determined by talking to a doctor. informedhealth.org can provide support for talks with doctors and other medical professionals, but cannot replace them. We do not offer individual consultations.

Our information is based on the results of good-quality studies. It is written by a team of health care professionals, scientists and editors, and reviewed by external experts. You can find a detailed description of how our health information is produced and updated in our methods.

• Cite this Page InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. In brief: What is speech therapy? 2020 Aug 12.

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For Parents: A Speech Therapy Session, Explained

• December 1, 2022

Amy Yacoub, MS, CCC-SLP

You’re concerned with your child’s speech or language skills.

So you get the referral from your child’s pediatrician, schedule an evaluation with a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), and it’s recommended that your child start weekly Speech Therapy .

• What does a typical session look like?
• Will I be involved during the sessions?
• What am I expected to do in between sessions?
• What skills will my child be working on?
• How long will my child need Speech Therapy?
• How do I know if he or she is making progress?

Establishing Goals

• Long term goals are the “bigger” goals.

Example: to improve your child’s expressive language skills to a level that’s considered appropriate for their age.

An SLP may estimate your child will achieve a long term goal in 6 months, 1 year, or another amount of time, depending on a variety of factors.

• Short term goals are smaller, specific goals that lead to achieving a long term goal.

These are the goals that the therapist is working on week to week during a session. The therapist may target a few goals (typically about 3 to 4) within 1 to 2 sessions a week.

Understanding words, putting words together to form sentences, using certain types of grammatical markers, or articulating a certain sound are all examples of possible short-term goals in speech therapy.

How does a child meet a goal? When he or she demonstrates that skill a certain number of times or in a given percentage of opportunities, like 80%, the goal is considered met for that session.

The therapist’s goal is typically for the child to meet that same goal for a total of 3 sessions in a row.

The child will improve their vocabulary by imitating 10 words during a session, for 3 consecutive sessions.

The child will accurately produce the /s/ sound in the initial position of words with 80% accuracy over 3 consecutive sessions.

Targeting & Tracking Goals

For younger children, a play-based approach is typically used to work on speech and language goals. In children of all ages, the therapist will likely target a certain goal through games, books, and other fun, motivating activities.

A Parent’s Role

Research shows that parent involvement in Speech Therapy can lead to more success.

Additional Resources

TherapyWorks offers Speech Therapy, Occupational and Physical Therapy both in person and through teletherapy . If you would like to learn more, or discuss your child’s specific needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to TherapyWorks!

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• How Long Should Speech Therapy Sessions Last? A Comprehensive Guide

The duration of speech therapy sessions can vary greatly depending on the patient's capacity and objectives. Learn more about how long speech therapy sessions should last and what factors influence their duration.

The duration of speech therapy sessions can vary greatly depending on the patient's capacity and objectives. Most patients visit the clinic once or twice a week for about an hour, but the actual treatment time will depend on the number of sound errors that are being addressed in the treatment plan. A 2002 study concluded that significant advances in speech clarity require approximately 14 hours of therapy, on average. Many children who need speech therapy have an articulation or phonological processing disorder.

The typical time to correct a difference in speech is 15 to 20 hours, and the typical frequency for joint treatment is twice a week for 30-minute sessions. Based on this information, it could be assumed that if the disorder were mild to moderate, if the child attended treatment consistently and families did their homework between sessions, the total duration of treatment could be about four to five months. It's important to understand the factors that influence the duration of speech therapy sessions. Most of the time, parents can watch a session here and there to observe, learn, and use the strategies that are taught to their child in the session. It will usually take at least a couple of weeks for the SLP to establish a working relationship with your child and develop a routine.

After that time, the therapist should inform you of the high-priority objectives and give you instructions on how you can help and reinforce the progress achieved in the sessions. This tends to minimize distractions and allows the therapist to fully immerse the child in the therapeutic process. Most of the time, there should be some way to observe a session here and there, regardless of the environment, so that parents can observe, learn, and use the strategies that are taught to their child at home. Therefore, it's quite difficult to predict with certainty how long your child's speech therapy will last. If you ask your SLP this question and receive something like a definitive answer, then you may need to keep looking for an SLP to administer speech therapy.

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• How Long Does Speech Therapy Last? An Expert's Guide to Understanding Treatment Duration
• What to Expect During a Speech Therapy Session: A Guide for Patients and Families
• The Benefits of Speech and Language Therapy Explained
• The Difference Between Speech Therapists and Language Pathologists
• What Are the Costs of Speech Therapy? A Comprehensive Guide
• 5 Conditions That Can Be Improved With Speech Therapy: An Expert's Guide
• Can I Do Speech Therapy at Home Without a Therapist?
• Speech Development: Apps and Software Programs to Help Kids Improve Communication Skills
• Using Technology to Support Your Child's Speech Development: An Expert's Guide
• Finding Support for Parents of Children with Communication Disorders
• What Do Speech Pathologists Do? A Comprehensive Guide
• How Long Does it Take to See Results from Speech Therapy?
• The Benefits of Speech Therapy: What is it Good For?
• Achieving Communication Goals with Speech Therapy
• Speech Therapy Games for Preschoolers: Fun Activities to Do at Home
• Speech Therapy: Treating Communication Disorders
• 10 Essential Qualities for a Successful Speech Therapist
• When is the Right Time to Start Speech Therapy for Your Child?
• The Similarities and Differences Between Speech Therapy and Speech Pathology: An Expert's Perspective
• Understanding the Four Major Speech Disorders: Causes, Treatments, and Early Intervention
• What are best practices for speech therapy?
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• What is speech therapy target?
• How effective is speech therapy for speech delay?
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• What field of science is speech pathology?
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Is becoming speech pathologist hard?

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• How can i make speech therapy more fun?
• What are speech activities?
• Do speech pathologists go to medical school?
• What should i expect from a speech assessment?
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• What disorders do speech pathologist treat?
• What does a speech pathologist do for hearing loss?
• Do deaf people need speech therapy?
• What are five things you can do to encourage speech and language development?
• How long should a child attend speech therapy?
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• When should you seek a speech pathologist?
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• Can slp diagnose language disorder?
• What activities are used in speech therapy?
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• What are the goals of a speech therapist?
• What gpa do you need to get into slp grad school?
• What is the highest degree for speech pathology?
• Is there a difference between a speech therapist and a speech pathologist?

What skills are needed to be a speech pathologist?

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• What would you do speech therapy activities?
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• What do they test in speech therapy?
• What is the highest paid speech pathologist?
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• What can a parent do if a child has trouble speaking?

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How Many Speech Therapy Sessions Per Week Is Required?

Wondering how many speech therapy sessions per week your kid needs?

Unfortunately, this isn’t as straightforward to answer as most parents would like.

Your child’s speech-language pathologist will have to consider many factors, and the answer will likely depend on your child’s specific condition.

Private Practice

Scheduling options, recommended weekly sessions, final thoughts, where to get speech therapy.

Before you can figure out how often speech therapy should be, you first have to learn where the sessions usually occur.

There are many possible reasons a child may need speech therapy.

Depending on the circumstances, such as severity, budget, and convenience, you can opt for speech services in various locations.

Also, you will most likely receive suggestions on where to get treatment when you obtain a language disorder diagnosis for your child.

Listed below are two core settings you can expect for speech therapy:

In a school setup, a lot of factors will determine the type of care your kid receives.

These include your child’s age, the identified speech problem, any learning impairments or disabilities, the school’s structure, and more.

Push-in and pull-out services are the two primary types of speech therapy in schools, but how do they differ from one another?

Push-In Therapy Services

This setup lets your child learn and grow in the classroom and improve their communication skills.

Activities for push-in therapy services may include:

• Collaborating with the children in classroom discussions with adequate volume control
• Interacting and speaking with each child during a question-and-answer section of the lessons
• Adapting and evaluating the children’s ability to take information if they are having difficulties with a specific activity
• Ensuring that the children in the class don’t feel much pressure during speaking sessions
• Monitoring the progress of children’s understanding of language and being ready to assist those who need more attention

Pull-Out Therapy Services

In some situations, children might have severe language impairment or other disorders.

For more serious issues, pull-out services are more suitable and are either conducted individually or via small groups.

Students who are in pull-out therapy services will get more focused lessons, tools, and attention.

Generally, children who are in this setup have:

• Autism or cerebral palsy
• Require to have assistive devices to learn
• Multiple impairments not limited to speech, such as hearing and vision loss
• Swallowing disorders

Combination

A combination of push-in and pull-out therapy services may yield exceptional development for some children.

This setup is possible by a joint effort between parents, teachers, SLPs, and school administrators.

By working together, analyzing homework requirements and challenges will result in an effective IEP or Individualized Education Program.

Many SLPs offer their services via private practice.

You can check ad postings or use your preferred search engine to look up some of them .

These SLPs are able to work beyond school hours, which could be beneficial if you want them to tutor your kid privately.

SLPs who are not bound to school regulations might have techniques to speed up your child’s development further.

Let’s determine how private practice differs from school and see why some parents prefer the former.

Freedom of Schedule and Tasks

In private therapy, SLPs are not obligated to do other paperwork, which allows them to be more focused and detailed in outlining individualized treatment plans.

Since there are no school rules, SLPs have the option to start working with children immediately.

Plus, all the free time allows the speech therapist to dedicate the majority of his working hours to treating patients.

In a school-based setup, the paperwork could consume a lot of precious time.

More Personalized Treatment

Many parents think that 30 minutes of speech therapy sessions per week is sufficient to treat toddlers with speech and language disorders.

However, that short time is not enough in the majority of the cases.

SLPs have to balance time between weekly progress evaluations, review of strategies, and actual treatment of many students in a school-based therapy setup.

Considering these different tasks, it’s almost impossible to provide the necessary time and effort to the children who need regular speech therapy treatment.

Private practice SLPs have the option to regulate the number of children they can treat.

This advantage gives them more flexibility to focus on those who need more attention than others.

While school SLPs also provide individual monitoring and treatment, private practice SLPs can do it more efficiently.

Faster Progress

More often than not, children have a better rate of progress when they are in private practice speech therapy.

Besides the treatment, the parent’s involvement is more emphasized.

They get updated every week and are also given numerous tips on how to help their children.

A school-based setup might offer this level of engagement, but consistency is something it couldn’t promise.

Private practice SLPs could cater to each child for about 45 minutes.

In contrast, school SLPs might only allow up to a maximum of 30 minutes per session.

Because of the extra time, more attention is guaranteed.

SLPs in private practice can observe behaviors more, better assess progress consistently, and recalibrate the treatment techniques more easily.

How Many Speech Therapy Sessions Per Week Is Recommended?

The short answer is that it varies because you have to factor in the setup, the strategy implemented, and who is helping you.

Regardless of the unique characteristics of students, research shows that SLPs prefer to have one scheduling choice and apply this throughout their whole workload.

For example, many school SLPs mainly give services two to three times a week in pull-out therapy sessions.

Some believe that this is because of the habits and the massive number of caseloads.

Others think it is an IEP culture, or it is the way education systems are constructed.

However, notwithstanding the cause, a weekly therapy for school-based SLPs usually lasts for about 20 to 30 minutes.

These numbers are also applicable for private practice SLPs, though it’s safe to assume that the results could be more impressive.

In some intense SLP programs, parents are offered 30 hours of treatment per month.

This means the child must attend at least one hour every day for a month to overcome language disorder.

However, this aggressive scheduling could take a toll on children who have attention issues.

SLPs might have variations in scheduling, but the usual session patterns may include:

Traditional

Followed by many SLPs, weekly therapy has a consistent number of sessions. Usually, it takes place two times per week.

This option recommends high sessions per week for a couple of months, then gradually lowers until the treatment is complete.

For example, weekly sessions are conducted three times per week. Then, the next two months could have a single session weekly.

As the name implies, it features a repeating cycle. For example, an SLP will conduct two sessions per week three times.

After that, there’s a week off, and then the cycle is repeated.

In most cases, shorter but frequent therapy sessions are better suited for toddlers.

Fatigue, disorders, and other factors might make longer sessions unproductive.

That’s why most SLPs will suggest therapy sessions of two up to three times per week.

These sessions will last an hour and have a duration of several months.

Once per week for a whole year is also recommended. However, children with severe speech disorders might need two weekly sessions for 18 months.

It would be best to consult your child’s availability with your SLP to tailor the best schedule and treatment strategy to maximize the results.

So, how many speech therapy sessions per week should you schedule?

Regardless of the scheduling strategy of the SLP, programs that enable parents to work with their children vastly improve language abilities.

These programs made for parents are not intended as a substitute for the work done by the SLP in speech treatment.

Nonetheless, it is difficult to ignore the boost parents can provide to their kids in their language skills development.

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What Is Speech Therapy?

If your child needs speech therapy, you're not alone. Here's everything you need to know about speech therapy for kids and toddlers.

How Does Speech Therapy Work?

What does speech therapy treat, signs a child may need speech therapy.

• What is Early Intervention Speech Therapy?
• Speech Therapy for Toddlers

Speech Therapy for Elementary-Aged Kids

What about private speech therapy, what age is best to start speech therapy, how parents can refer their child for speech therapy, does insurance cover speech therapy, how long will my child be in speech therapy, how effective is speech therapy.

Prostock-Studio / Getty Images

If your child is currently in speech therapy or you're wondering if they might be a candidate for it, you're not alone. According to the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), almost 8% of children in the United States have a communication or swallowing disorder. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, but it can be tough for families. The good news is speech therapy can make a difference.

So, what is speech therapy and how can it help? Here’s everything you need to know. 

Speech therapy is the treatment of communication, voice, and feeding/swallowing disorders by a trained professional.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have a master's degree in speech-language pathology and specialize in evaluating, diagnosing, treating, and preventing these disorders. SLPs hold a license to practice in their state. 

You may also come across ASHA-certified SLPs. They have taken an additional step to pass a national exam and complete an ASHA-accredited supervised clinical fellowship.

There are various reasons a child may need speech therapy. Common ones include:  

1. Speech sound disorders. This means a child has difficulty with the production of speech sounds and how we combine them into words.

2. Language disorders. A child will have difficulty understanding and/or using language to communicate. Language disorders may impact vocabulary development, grammar, as well as the ability to tell a story, follow directions, answer questions, and more.

3. Social communication disorder/pragmatic language disorder . In this case, a child will have difficulty using language to socialize. This may include difficulty understanding social cues, taking turns during conversation, initiating or maintaining a conversation, and understanding personal space. A social communication disorder often leads to difficulty forming friendships. Children with these language barriers may have a concurrent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder .

4. Cognitive - communication disorder . This includes difficulty with memory, reasoning, problem solving, and organization, impacting the ability to communicate.

5. Voice disorder . Children will have differences in voice quality (e.g., being too hoarse or too nasal).

6. Fluency disorder/stuttering . Kids will have difficulty maintaining a smooth flow of speech. A fluency disorder may include repetitions of sounds within words, prolongations of parts of words, and/or pauses in speech.

7. Feeding/swallowing disorder . This presents as a difficulty with sucking, chewing, and/or swallowing food or liquid.

Children may need speech therapy when they have not acquired speech/language milestones by an expected age. While milestones can vary from child to child, parents should refer their child for an evaluation if they have any concerns. Evaluation, which may include both standardized and non-standardized testing as well as observation, can help diagnose a speech/language disorder.

Some signs that may indicate a need for speech therapy include:

• A child isn't babbling by 6-7 months
• The child is having difficulty with feeding and/or swallowing
• A child beyond the age of 1 has no words
• A child beyond the age of 2 is not combining words into phrases
• The child's speech is difficult to understand
• The child is omitting syllables or sounds in words
• Speech errors are noticed during conversation
• The child has difficulty following directions or understanding spoken language
• The child has difficulty answering questions
• The child has a smaller vocabulary than what is expected for their age
• The child is stuttering
• The child's voice quality has changed or is noticeably hoarse or nasal
• The child has difficulty communicating with others socially
• The child has hearing loss
• The child has a cleft lip or palate

What is Early Intervention Speech Therapy? 

Early intervention refers to state-funded evaluations and interventions—including speech therapy—for children, ages birth to 3, and their families. In some states, early intervention continues until the age of 5. While professionals may refer a child to early intervention, parents can also refer their child on their own.

Speech Therapy for Toddlers 

Speech therapy for toddlers usually resembles play where toys are used to elicit target skills, says Dominica Lumb, M.S., CCC-SLP, who has over 30 years of experience conducting speech therapy with children in various settings. 

Children are given choices during play to encourage the need to communicate. While working on language skills, toddlers are encouraged to request objects, ask questions, answer questions, and use appropriate vocabulary.

Parents may be included in therapy sessions at this age. They may be taught to model speech sounds or how to label objects and actions during everyday routines to enhance vocabulary development.

Speech therapy can also work differently depending on a child’s needs. For example, one may require a mode of communication that differs from speaking. That’s referred to as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and may include picture boards or computers/iPads for communicating through text or voice synthesizer. This can begin in early intervention and beyond.

Speech therapy at this stage is typically more structured. Games are often used for motivation, but goals are targeted through practice and repetition. Children practice new skills throughout a continuum until they're able to use these skills naturally in all environments.

After early intervention, children may continue receiving services in elementary school through an individualized education plan (IEP). The IEP is written by all specialists who will be working with the child. It states the child's goals and documents any accommodations the child may need to meet them.

Therapy at this age may follow a “pull-out” model where a child receives support in a separate classroom or a “push-in” model where an SLP provides services within the regular classroom. This model can change throughout the duration of therapy. For example, a child working on the correct production of a sound will typically begin with pull-out therapy and, when ready, will be observed in their classroom to assess for carryover of this skill.

SLPs in the school setting also consult with teachers to provide the support children need to communicate effectively in the classroom.

While children must qualify for speech therapy through early intervention and in public schools, private practices can provide services beyond these standards.

Speech therapy in the private practice setting typically occurs one-on-one with the child receiving the SLP's undivided attention. But group therapy may occur when beneficial to the child.

"Therapy in the private practice setting is very child and family focused," explains Shanna Klump, M.S., CCC-SLP, CEO of Kid Connections Therapy in Severna Park, Maryland. "The family's goals for their child are often at the forefront of the work we do. In addition, parents and other family members often participate in the sessions to learn strategies that can be implemented at home to encourage generalization of skills."

Parents should refer their child for a speech/language evaluation when they first notice their child is falling behind in any area of speech/language or is no longer meeting speech/language milestones . It is never too late or too early to start therapy but, in general, earlier intervention leads to a better outcome. If you're unsure if your child requires speech therapy, a referral to an SLP is always recommended.

A parent can contact their local early intervention office to learn about speech therapy options. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides early intervention contacts by state. Parents can also reach out to their child's health care provider to determine where their local early intervention office is located.

A school-aged child can be referred for a speech/language evaluation by reaching out to the child's teacher or the school's SLP.

An evaluation by a private SLP is an option at any age, but evaluations through early intervention or a public school district are provided at no cost. ASHA ProFind connects parents to SLPs who have indicated they are accepting referrals.

While public school therapy is free, private outpatient speech/language therapy is often covered by health plans, but with limitations.

According to Klump, insurance coverage for speech therapy varies by state, insurance plan, and diagnosis. She explains that while some states require habilitative service coverage for children, others do not.

Often, private practices, including Klump's Kid Connections, complete a benefits verification before initiating speech evaluation or therapy. In her experience, therapy sessions without insurance coverage may cost between $100-150, depending on location.

As each health plan has its own coverage, it is important to reach out to your insurance company to determine your out-of-pocket costs.

Insurance and Speech Therapy Coverage

If you're looking to see what insurance covers, Shanna Klump, M.S., CCC-SLP, CEO of Kid Connections Therapy, suggests parents obtain the following information from their insurance carrier:

• Visit limit. This may be a hard or soft limit which refers to whether an extension of services could be granted if deemed medically necessary
• Whether the visit limit is combined with other services. For example, occupational therapy and physical therapy are sometimes grouped with speech therapy in the number of sessions covered
• Whether there are exclusions to coverage for different diagnoses
• If a deductible must be met
• The co-pay amount per session

Speech therapy can take anywhere from months to years. Each child makes progress at their own rate and has individualized goals based on their communication needs. Just as children develop and meet milestones individually, the time it takes them to master new skills will vary.

Speech therapy has been found to be effective for children. One study of more than 700 children with speech or language disorders up to 16 years old, found an average of six hours of speech therapy over six months significantly improved communication performance. Speech therapy was shown to be much more effective than no treatment over the same period.

Children of all ages typically find speech therapy engaging, fun, and rewarding. They're able to see their progress and use their newly learned skills proudly. Speech therapy is an effective way to enhance a child's ability to communicate and through these communication skills, a child will have better access to the world.

Is speech and language therapy effective for children with primary speech and language impairment? Report of a randomized control trial . International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders . 2011

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How to Do Speech Therapy at Home

iStockphoto / Mordolff

Like any other skill acquired in childhood, learning how to communicate clearly—both in terms of how you speak and the words you choose—is one that develops over the course of many months and years. Some kids begin babbling away early in toddlerhood while others remain the strong and silent type until they’re more comfortable with speech patterns.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), most children begin talking between 1 and 2 years of age. By age 2, most kids have a vast foundation of words to work with (think “ball,” “dog,” “Mama” or “Dada,” “cup,” “eat”) and are often putting words together into two-word questions and sentences.

If your child doesn’t seem to be falling within the range of normal for speech, it may not be a sign of a speech or language delay , but it also may be appropriate to begin engaging in some simple speech exercises with your child at home.

At-home speech therapy can be especially helpful for kids who aren’t easily frustrated and who have only mild delays or articulation errors, said Massachusetts-based pediatric speech therapist Alyssa Gusenoff. More serious problems, like speech regressions, should be brought up with a licensed speech therapist.

Here is a guide to performing basic speech therapy at home with your child, from first steps all the way through seeking outside help.

Assess Your Options 

There’s no reason to go it alone when it comes to speech therapy if there are resources in your community that can assist you. First, you should consult with your child’s pediatrician if you feel that your child has a speech delay or articulation issue. A pediatrician can share developmental milestones for speech and let you know if your child is actually struggling.

“It’s important to know what’s developmentally appropriate for speech and what’s simply parent-preferred,” Gusenoff said. “Parents without a pediatric background may not realize that 4 year olds don’t need the 'r' sound yet.”

Gusenoff said that many communities offer early intervention services for children who aren’t yet school-aged. If your child is already enrolled in school, your district may employ a speech therapist who can help you, too. Don’t be shy—ask around to see what’s available. Many services are provided free of charge for town residents.

Assess Your Child

If you’ve decided to try at-home speech therapy (either in lieu of professional services or, perhaps, while you wait for a therapist to become available), what works for your child will depend on several things.

Younger children will have a hard time focusing and concentrating on anything you call “therapy.” You can try to keep things fun and light, but a child too little to understand he’s making speech errors may not be receptive to correcting them. An older child can be more motivated to improve their speech because it means they will be better understood by peers and caregivers.

Temperament

Again, kids who are not easily frustrated are more likely to work on speech with a parent. Kids with a low frustration tolerance may view therapy as a negative experience.

Type of Speech Involvement Needed

There will be different approaches to therapy if your child has a speech delay (they have far fewer words than they should at their age) versus an articulation problem (they make a “t” sound instead of a hard “c” sound). 

Co-Existing Conditions

If your child is simply behind in this one area, it may be easier for you to slowly catch them up over time at home. If a speech issue occurs along with another developmental condition, like autism, you may want to seek professional help.

Experiment with At-Home Methods

Once you’re ready to forge ahead, you can try a variety of approaches to helping your child improve their speech. Here are some of Gusenoff’s favorite strategies.

Stop Anticipating Your Child’s Needs

It’s tempting, we know, to jump for what your child wants whenever they simply point at it—but doing so doesn’t encourage them to use their words. Give them a chance to ask for the pretzels, Gusenoff said, rather than grabbing them as soon as your child points to the cabinet.

Minimize Pacifier Usage

If your older toddler or preschooler is still using a pacifier, it can be very hard to break the habit , but it’s also very hard to talk with a pacifier in your mouth, so continuing to use one when speech is developing can interrupt the process.

Offer Choices

Instead of saying, “What would you like to drink?” ask your child “Would you like milk or juice?” A child struggling to build vocabulary will benefit from hearing the options and being able to choose one, rather than being expected to pull the correct word out of thin air. 

Increase Visibility

“When you say the name of an object, hold the object up towards your mouth so your child sees your mouth move,” Gusenoff recommended. This creates an immediate visual connection between the object and the way the word for that object is formed in the mouth.

Take turns repeating words to each other (example: “I’ll say ‘apple’ and then you say ‘apple.’ Ready? ‘Apple.’ Your turn!”). Peek-a-boo games also encourage speech by keeping a child’s attention, as do hiding games. Gusenoff said hiding objects around the house, like hiding small objects inside playdough, and keeping objects reserved inside containers can all encourage kids to ask questions, make exclamations, and request assistance.

Prompt and Withhold (Within Reason)

If your child is struggling because they simply haven’t had a lot of opportunities to practice various types of speech, you’ll have to learn to get comfortable making them feel mildly un comfortable sometimes. Don’t push your child to the brink of tears, but it’s okay to pause or hang back to see if your child can eventually solve their own problem when they need something.

For example, Gusenoff said you can help your child put on one shoe—then get up and walk away. Does your child call after you to get your attention? If so, ask him what he needs (you know the answer, but pretend like you don’t!). The goal here is to encourage your child to communicate for himself, rather than always relying on you to do all the talking.

Most children learn best when things are repeated over and over (and over!) again, and that’s often true for speech as well. When your child says a word correctly, repeat it back to him in a positive tone. If your child makes an articulation error, Gusenoff said, repeat it back to them incorrectly so they can hear what they actually said versus what they think they said. Some kids may not realize they’re making an error until mom or dad repeats it back to them!

Make Lots of Observations

Now that you’re spending dedicated time at home on speech therapy, it’s important to start tracking your child’s progress. Gusenoff said it’s easy to forget or overlook where your child is starting out when learning a new skill, meaning you can underestimate the amount of progress they’ve made. Keep a record or log so you can visually track your efforts.

Gusenoff also recommends paying attention to what words you can understand from your child compared with what a grandparent, for example, and a total stranger can understand. There will be differences between those three metrics (i.e. you can understand 75 percent, your mother-in-law can understand 50 percent, and a stranger can understand 25 percent), but there shouldn’t be enormous gaps between each tier. According to Nemours, most people—regardless of how well they know your child—should be able to understand the majority of your child's speech by the time they turn 4.

Know Your Limitations

It’s important to understand that you may be able to guide and assist your child at home, helping to develop much-needed skills, but you may not be able to correct more significant problems without a professional. It’s one thing to help your child say his “d” and “b” sounds more clearly, but it’s another thing to teach him how to form more complex sounds involving the tongue or back of the throat.

Gusenoff added that kids who are very frustrated by their speech problems, who regress or don’t make any progress, who grope for sounds but are unable to move their mouths, and kids who experience quality of life issues because of communication errors or delays are not the best candidates for at-home speech therapy and would benefit from professional help.

If you’ve reached the limit of what you can provide for your child yourself, try not to take it as a personal offense. Instead, do what you can and then reach out for more help. Your child’s pediatrician is a great place to start—they often know all of the local resources and can point you in the right direction.

American Academy of Pediatrics. Language Delays in Toddlers: Information for Parents .

Nemours Foundation. Delayed Speech or Language Development .

By Sarah Bradley Sarah Bradley has been writing parenting content since 2017, after her third son was born. Since then, she has expanded her expertise to write about pregnancy and postpartum, childhood ages and stages, and general health conditions, including commerce articles for health products. Because she has been homeschooling her sons for seven years, she is also frequently asked to share homeschooling tips, tricks, and advice for parenting sites.

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How Long Does it Take for Speech Therapy to Work?

08-11-20 - Pediatrics , Speech Therapy

Often when we think of a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), the image of a school-age child comes to mind. We visualize a child with a lisp, stutter , or another difficulty with pronunciations of words. With May being Better Hearing and Speech Awareness Month, we’d like to share some of the ways both kids AND adults can benefit from working with a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) in the Ivy Rehab Network . An SLP can help with a variety of issues following illness or injury – some not seen as speech-related at all!

While considering the frequency and duration of speech therapy, parents and families can play a huge role in helping children achieve their goals faster. A speech therapist for kids will provide targets and goals, such as practice with articulation or motor speech therapy. A pediatric therapist will typically review goals addressed, provide insight and training for the family, and help to improve the rate of progressing on goals during pediatric speech therapy . 

Because there is such a wide range of symptoms and treatments, it’s hard to definitively say what the appropriate speech therapy frequency and duration will be. A trained speech-language pathologist will analyze your issue to learn the complexity of it, and then set a goal that is achievable within a reasonable amount of time (typically 6 months or less). A speech therapist will create a custom treatment plan depending on you or your child’s needs. This may include treatment for the following: 

An SLP can evaluate and treat patients that have difficulty swallowing (dysphagia). Patients who have suffered a stroke or are struggling with a degenerative disease like Parkinson’s or ALS, sometimes have difficulty with swallowing due to the progression of the disease. Children who may be considered a “picky eater” because of a variety of sensory processing issues can struggle with difficulty swallowing as well. An SLP can help with these difficulties! 

Weakened or Raspy Voice

An SLP can help with rehabilitation for a weak voice. Our Speech-Language pathologists have specialized training in how to improve voice amplitude, power, and fluency. Overuse, an injury or disease can cause stuttering or a weak or raspy voice. SLPs can help with exercises that strengthen vocal muscles and improve the clarity of your voice no matter the cause of your impairment.

Aphasia is the ability of the brain to translate thought into expressive language. Often after a stroke or brain injury, an individual may have difficulty with “word finding.” A patient will say, “It’s on the tip of my tongue but I can’t recall the word!” It is one of the most frustrating conditions for a patient. For the 180,000 people who struggle with aphasia every year, those that work with an SLP show significant signs of recovery.

Post-concussion Treatment

For athletes (pro, amateur, child , or adult) wanting to get back in the game after a concussion, an SLP can help you return to your sport! Studies show that concussions can cause memory issues, focus and attention difficulties, and struggles with critical thinking skills. Speech-Language Pathologists are experts at treating the side effects of a concussion, can help you fully recover, and return to your sport as well as resume daily functioning .

Once your speech pathologist takes an assessment of your speech and language skills, they will be able to develop a treatment plan specific to your needs. The speech therapy frequency and duration will depend upon your speech pathologist’s evaluation and will vary from patient to patient.

Find out how to find a pediatric speech therapist near you and receive a speech-language pathology plan today! You will discover the positive outcomes it will have on yours or your child’s speech and language development.

The medical information contained herein is provided as an information resource only, and does not substitute professional medical advice or consultation with healthcare professionals. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-provider relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis, treatment or medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. If you think you have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. IvyRehab Network, Inc. disclaims any and all responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained herein.

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Relevant Conditions & Treatments

Pediatric Speech Therapy

How Long Will My Child Be in Speech-Language Therapy?

There has definitely been progress and my son is doing so much better now, but how do I know how long I will have my child in therapy?

I take my child to speech and language therapy. My child goes twice a week for thirty minutes and we have been coming for a year and a half. I have gotten to know some of the other moms in the waiting room that are here at the same time. I have enjoyed talking to them while we wait for our children. Today, in conversation, one mom said that they started about four months ago and are almost done. That got me thinking. There has definitely been progress and my son is doing so much better now, but how do I know how long I will have my child in therapy?

As speech-language pathologists, we are often asked by parents how long their child will be in therapy. The reality is that it is very hard for us to know. There is no hard and fast answer to how long your child will be in therapy. Here are some of the factors that affect how long a child will need therapy.

What is your child’s challenge?

First, you should understand that children come to speech and language therapy for a variety of reasons. Some children have receptive language problems (comprehension difficulties) or expressive language (expressing themselves) challenges. Others are hard to understand and may have a speech articulation disorder, phonological disorder, or Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Children can have difficulty with stuttering, feeding, or even social communication. Many types challenges bring children to therapy. Additionally, children with the same diagnosis can have completely different challenges. One child’s expressive language problem can be completely different from another child’s expressive language problem.

How severe is the problem?

In general, you can expect that the more severely impacted your child is, the longer it will take to address it fully in therapy. If a child has more than one speech and language problem, it can take longer. For example, the child with a mixed receptive-expressive language disorder, articulation disorder who stutters will likely spend a great deal more time in therapy. A child with an expressive language disorder and social communication challenges will spend longer in therapy as well.

Is there another coexisting problem?

Any additional challenge would, in most cases, cause speech therapy to become a longer-term proposition. It is not unusual for children to have other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as specific learning disorder (literacy and numeracy), attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and developmental coordination disorder. Reading concerns, such as dyslexia, are common in children with mixed receptive-expressive language issues. Research has shown a link between language disorders, ADHD (19 percent), anxiety disorders (10 percent), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (7 percent combined).

Is your therapist competent?

The field of speech-language pathology is regulated. The State of Arizona licenses speech-language pathology professionals. In addition, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is a national organization that assures the clinical competence of all certified therapists via their Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC). For the most part, the therapist working with your child is likely qualified to practice. It is important for you to have a therapist with a strong knowledge base and level of experience for the particular speech, language, or communication challenge your child is dealing with. Additionally, how well your child likes this person is important. Children work well for therapists they find engaging. These factors are likely to have an influence on how long your therapy program takes.

Is the frequency of therapy appropriate?

In general, the more often your child meets with the speech-language pathologist, the faster they will meet their goals. If we see a five-year-old child on Monday for a one-hour session and they have to wait a whole week to readdress the goal with their therapist, therapy moves slower. That same child could be seen on Monday and Wednesday for thirty minutes with more frequent stimulation and opportunity to be provided with feedback. This helps the child to move through therapy more quickly. The younger children, and even older children with memory challenges or articulation disorders, benefit from more frequent sessions. Research shows that children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech may need therapy four to five times weekly. We often analogize going to speech therapy to working out. Working out at the gym once a week does not have the same benefits as working out more frequently. When I work with a personal trainer at the gym, I benefit from the more frequent coaching.

How involved are you?

As therapists, we know that the more parents become involved in therapy, the quicker therapy progresses. You need to know what your child’s goals in therapy are and work with your child’s therapist to achieve these goals. Follow through on homework and try to apply the strategies that your child’s therapist shares with you. It is helpful if your child feels that therapy is important to you too. Support your child’s therapist by sharing important bits of information about things your child values, topics of interest, places you have been, and what might motivate your child. You are part of the treatment team.

Is your child learning to practice independently?

In general, we say that the more you practice, the faster you will meet your goals in therapy. That doesn’t mean practice to the point of having your child shut down. For example, if you are learning to play a guitar, and get guitar lessons once a week, but don’t practice at all, the chances of you making substantial progress is pretty slim. If you have a lesson once a week and spend the other six days a week practicing, your chances of being able to join a band significantly increase. Speech therapy is much the same.

The bottom line …

It is not possible to say how long your child will be in therapy. Each child is different. Each family’s ability to support their child in therapy is different. It is important for you to know that we want your child to finish therapy as quickly as they are able. We have to meet children where they are at and move them along, helping them progress and achieve their goals. For the most part, there is no quick fix and some issues can take a long time to remediate.

Know that we tend to terminate therapy when:

The student is performing at a predetermined level or is within normal range. The child has reached all goals and objectives and is no longer considered to be at risk. The initial concerning behavior has been eliminated. The child’s progress toward goals has plateaued and efforts made to modify the intervention plan have not led to notable gains. This means the efforts made to change the goals, procedures, activities, and strategies have made no difference. Our goal as pediatric speech-language pathologists is to help children communicate better. We attempt to establish realistic long-term goals and short-term objectives. Talk to your child’s SLP and have them help you define progress by identifying discrete, measurable goals. Discuss therapy frequently and hold yourself accountable to daily practice.

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