Parents had a positive effect on their children's communication development. As a result, the children showed an improvement in their verbal and non-verbal communication skills, including comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and how often they communicated. Parents who are involved in the therapy process are more likely to feel comfortable giving valuable feedback to the therapist. These comments help the therapist determine the next steps of the therapy process in consultation with parents.
This means that the therapist and parents work together as a team to develop the best possible intervention program for the child. Parental opinions can also help the therapist recognize what works well for the child and family and also to identify what isn't working and may need to be changed. The therapist usually asks if there are any goals that parents want to prioritize or if there is anything new that needs to be addressed. Parental participation in therapy is effective not only because parents play a key role in their children's lives, but also because the intervention becomes an ongoing process and every interaction with the child becomes an opportunity to promote their communicative development.
Their availability, willingness to participate and family environment will be taken into account when making decisions about the degree of parental participation in therapy. Parents are important partners in acquiring speech and language skills; they are a constant in a child's life, while services and professionals change over time. This is also a time when the therapist talks with parents about how they feel about the progress made so far. Parents can also learn to take home what their child is doing in therapy and to participate in overcoming their children's speech and language problems.
When parents try to understand their child's diagnosis and are actively involved in the therapeutic process, benefits are achieved not only for the child, but also for the parents and the therapist. Intervention implemented by parents When the speech therapist teaches parents strategies to promote the speech and language skills that parents use when they are with their children, “therapy becomes a natural part of the family's interactions with their children.”.
