Post date: Oct 7, 2016 6:31:14 PM
I periodically have questions from parents that have concerns about their student's speech or language development where they ask if participating in therapy programming outside of school would be beneficial. I have worked in that setting previously and so I know that there are benefits to kids that are able to access private therapy as an option. I have also had the opportunity to see where private therapy can go wrong. Because of this credibility issue I typically don't weigh in. Instead I offer my opinion on student progress, identify the things that need to be done that might increase progress, and then allow families to make an informed decision based on the treatment data.
If you are reading this and considering treatment supports outside of the school environment, there are a few things that you may want to watch out for when doing your research on a company. I have listed some of the things I look for after having been in that environment. Hopefully this perspective will be helpful as you research your options.
RED FLAGS:
Programs that hold/hide their fees until after evaluation/consultations (it should be presented up front on web-pages, in fliers, etc.)
Programs that utilize assessments for identification/evaluation that don't elevate to the validity rigors of standardized testing for large populations/samples (e.g. WISC, WJ-III, CELF-4, etc)
- "In-house" tests are often not repeatable outside of the organization/or center's location.
- Comparison measures cannot be conducted (convenient for marketing, not so much for apples-to-apples comparisons on growth over time/setting).
Programs that are expensive that also have a set number of sessions/weeks per unit of service to get the advertised results. All kids learn differently and at different speeds, no single plan of service is a catch all for each of the various types of kids, learning styles, strengths, weaknesses, backgrounds, edu. history, etc. Never fall for a Guarantee!
Programs that don't hire certified clinicians to provide a clinical service - Speech Language Pathologists or SLP's go through 6-years of training at a University and then have months of on-the-job training. Ask what the level of training, time working in the field, and educational background is for your tutors/trainers/aids, etc.
Programs/services that present treatment approaches/plans that completely contradict the established research base in that area. In other-words, find some other professionals in the field and ask them what they think about the company you are researching. On websites, the 'underdog story' or the 'trailblazer story' or even a research page supporting their program makes for great marketing but it has little to do with their reputation in the local professional community.
Programs with only positive online reviews from the standard online review sources (no business can satisfy 100% of customers all the time).
- Sometimes there are way too many reviews for the service they provide (suggesting a paid reviewer scheme or a kickback for participation scheme).
- Sometimes there are a few reviews that raise some serious issues or more honest assessments with pros and cons.
- A program that is manipulating their reviews is not expecting parents to dig, hoping that they are already emotionally connected via their marketing.