There is extensive research that supports the efficacy of speech and occupational teletherapy. Along with research that supports teletherapy, our therapists and parents have seen extensive progress in our children that have been receiving speech and occupational teletherapy services, largely due to the rapid carryover of skills in the home setting. The parents are using the exact strategies and prompts that our therapists utilize to target specific goals, resulting in increased carryover of skills in everyday activities. Once children carry over the learned skills into settings beyond therapy, that is when all of the progress can be observed.

The idea of teletherapy can seem overwhelming; however, due to the positive results we’ve seen, we encourage you to give it a try.

Ok, but is there any research on teletherapy?

• A systematic review was conducted to determine if teletherapy-delivered speech-language pathology interventions are as effective as traditional in-person delivery for children, revealing “both telehealth and in-person participants made significant and similar improvements.” (Wales, D., Skinner, L., & Hayman, M., 2017).

• A study examined the use of telepractice as a method of speech and language services to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), revealing that “a telepractice service delivery method is an effective and valid way to provide interventions to students with ASD” (Boisvert, M., 2012).

• A research project conducted by the Mayo Clinic indicated: “telemedicine evaluations can be reliable, beneficial, and acceptable to patients with a variety of acquired speech and language disorders, both in rural settings and within large multidisciplinary medical settings.” (Duffy, J.R., Werven, G., Aronson, A., 1997).