School is starting again, and that means meeting with your child’s teacher to prepare for the coming school year! If your child gets speech-language therapy, whether through the school system or outside it, it’s important to talk to her teacher about her goals and needs.
Encouraging Other Students to Help Classmates Reach Their Goals
If your child needs special arrangements in the classroom to help her meet her speech-language goals (such as needing to sit closer to the teacher during class), share this with her teacher by bringing a copy of her most recent evaluation report or progress report to the meeting. As a speech-language pathologist, I recommend making sure this is a copy of the report that the teacher can keep. Then, if the teacher has any questions or concerns about your child’s goals/needs, he or she can contact the speech-language pathologist who works with your child. You, as the parent, may need to give permission, or ensure that a consent form has been signed, to allow the therapist and teacher to share information about your child.
If you want your child’s teacher to encourage other students to help her reach her goals, tell the teacher which speech-language goals you think the other students could help with, then share your thoughts about how those goals could be addressed with classmates (and ask the teacher for ideas, too!). For example, if one of your child’s goals is to improve turn-taking skills, ask the teacher if he/she will try to provide opportunities for your child to take turns in activities with the other children during the school day.
Remember, you are your child’s best resource. Advocate for her as much as possible. If you want her teacher to help her achieve her speech-language goals and objectives, communicate that to the teacher. If you have ideas about specific ways the teacher can provide this help, don’t be afraid to share them! You can make sure that you, your child’s teacher, your child’s therapist, and anyone else who could help are a team, all working together toward the ultimate goal of your child’s success as a communicator!
Encouraging Other Students to Help Classmates Reach Their Goals
Teresa Davis, M.S. CCC-SLP
