As a parent, caregiver or individual attending a first speech therapy session, there will be a lot of questions asked of you. But what should you be asking your speech therapist? This person is going to be supporting your child, loved one, or maybe you yourself and you deserve to have a good understanding of what to expect. Here are a few questions to start with:
- What is your attendance/cancelation policy?
- Will you be providing take-home materials for practice?
- How involved will I be as the parent/caregiver?
- Are there any specialty interventions you will be using?
- Do you have any trusted resources so I can learn more about this diagnosis?
- If you are unavailable, are there options to see a substitute therapist?
- What is your experience with treating this diagnosis?
- Will I have access to the evaluation or progress notes?
- Are there any additional services you’d recommend?
Some questions that also may be top of your list, but may not get you an exact answer
- What is the prognosis?
- This is a hard question to answer, because every individual is different. You could instead ask “in your experience with this diagnosis, how much progress do you typically see in 1,2,3 months etc.”
- Will they ever fully recover/gain this skill?
- Again, a difficult question for a provider to answer. There are so many underlying factors we don’t have control over. My go to explanation is that we will be working to help them communicate to the best of their abilities, whatever that means for them.
- How long will it take?
- Some patients come in for a month, others we see for years. There is not a good answer for this. Instead, try asking “how long is the typical plan of care?” or “How often will they be re-evaluated?” These are the standard benchmark times we plan for, if you’re really looking for a time estimate.
What other questions would you want to know from your first visit with a provider?
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