This week I started a small video series on evaluating toddlers through tik-tok and instagram. This all stemmed from a question I posed at the beginning of the week – how do we write speech therapy goals for toddlers?
Toddler Speech Therapy Evaluations
When it comes speech therapy evaluations for toddlers, we have to look beyond the standardized assessments. I’ve given many of them over the past few years and if there’s anything I’ve learned…it’s that sometimes, they are just a score.
Now, don’t get me wrong here- you can also get a lot of information from these standardized testing materials and they are often a way to see a toddler’s areas of strengths and weaknesses. Plus it’s typically one of the easiest ways to get insurance to approve speech therapy visits.
Creating Speech Therapy Goals
I don’t always rely on those scores to produce accurate goal writing criteria. Here are 3 important questions that I always include in my toddler evaluations.
- What are your concerns?
- When it comes to speech therapy, what are your expectations?
- How is your toddler currently communicating with you?
These 3 questions can give you a lot of information when it comes to the overall toddler. This information can then be used to write communication goals. Base your goals off where the toddler’s communication skills are currently – the ultimate outcome being to build on those current skills to increase communication. It can be really easy to get bogged down in the small details (grammar usage, sentence structure, verb tense, etc.). Don’t do that. Focus on the larger picture (overall vocabulary, ability to answer questions, ability to make requests, get their needs met etc.) versus small details (at least at first) helps the toddler to succeed and make progress. Once they master those broader concepts then you can move into the smaller details.
Concern Validation
Asking a parent directly what their concerns are reassures the parent that their concerns are valid. This is so important because often times parents feel defeated, blame themselves, and just have no idea what else to do. Sometimes we just need someone to tell us: I see you. I see your frustrations and concerns and they are valid. We are going to figure out a game plan and help you and your toddler communicate more effectively. No matter what, it is going to be okay.
Never ever under estimate the power of human kindness.
What can I expect?
Talk to the parent about what they are expecting from speech therapy services. What is their long term goal? A lot of times, they truly don’t have a complete understanding of all that speech therapy encompasses. Our scope of practice is huge and we can offer so many strategies and ideas to help. It also gives parents a chance to stop and think about what their actual goals might be.
Toddler Communication Skills
Finally, when considering how to write speech therapy goals, consider this: what their current communication skills are: do they vocalize, use gestures, signs, word approximations, behaviors? This question can get overlooked easily because we, as evaluating therapists, go in and immediately begin our observations and note taking. We do not realize that parents may not understand that their toddler is communicating, just not in the way they expect! This can make all the difference too when it comes to follow through with strategies.
So when it comes to toddler evaluations, goal writing, treating… what are your areas of concern? Have you found strategies that work? Let me know!
Looking for ways to expand your toddler’s vocabulary? Check out this blog post!
