Social distancing therapy options – Online Therapy

by Kelly MacKean

Self-isolating? Social distancing? Concerned about the impact of all this isolation on your child’s development?

In this time of uncertainty, it is hard to know how to go about normalising our day to day lives and that of our kids. In an inconsistent world where hoarding toilet rolls and pasta seem to be social norm. It is so important to try and maintain some semblance of routine. Children love their lives to be consistent (even if they don’t know it!) so providing them with this consistency is super important in our current environment.

How Can Smart Talk Help?

At the moment we are living In a world where there is not too much we are in control of and the rules and routines we have lived by so far, are being changed by the day. So what can we do? Smart Talk is wanting to assist in any way we can, we want to stay connected, we want to stay positive and we want our clients to continue to learn and grow with all the opportunities we love to provide within the therapy room. We are pleased to announce that Smart Talk is continuing to roll out our new online therapy initiative to help service the community in these testing times.

So what is online therapy?

Online therapy is a video conference or skype styled video conversation designed to provide and exchange health support and information over a distance. Online therapy is also referred to as Telehealth, to Teletherapy, virtual therapy and online therapy. Usually Telehealth is used for the delivery of these services to people that live within a rural setting. What this means for us in our isolated, social distancing world, is that we can use this amazing facility to provide a number of services straight to the comfort and safety of your home.

Smart Talk will be offering different kinds of telehealth services. If you are looking for some weekly resources, additional homework and guidance, then we have weekly 20-minute check in services available. Each week, you will be sent resources that target and develop your child’s speech comprehension, vocabulary and sentence structure and literacy. The 20 minute check in via Zoom will allow the therapist to guide you through these activities and provide additional support as required. Plus it is a great opportunity for parents to observe the type of scaffolding and support we offer our youngsters. The beauty of continuing therapy is that we can continue to monitor and add to our individualised goals that we have set for your child AND when the world returns to “normal” we can pick up efficiently without disruption to your child’s learning and enrichment.

In addition, Smart Talk will also be offering the standard 30 to 60 minute treatment sessions via Zoom if you are looking for something a bit more in depth and directed specifically at you child. The idea behind these sessions is that it mimics as much as it can, the tailored made in clinic session we would plan for your child.

Smart Talk Therapy Sessions via Zoom

We have been doing our research here at Smart Talk and all of the therapists have been fiddling around on their laptops and computers, looking at apps and sharing devices within practice zoom sessions to make the online video therapy as engaging and interactive as possible. Our therapists have been trialling these sessions with our Smart Talk kiddies, all ages, with great enjoyment and success. This is our way of trying to provide some normalcy and regularity back into all of our lives and we are having a great time doing it! So if you are wanting some reprieve from home schooling your children (good luck with that long division), looking for some personalised tips on how to encourage your child’s speech or language or just want a moments peace, we are here to help.

Contact Smart Talk reception or your speech pathologist to set up a free trial therapy session via Zoom Telehealth and give it a go. Here we can all work together to support our kids to perform to their best potential.