For the most part, a parent, carer, or even both parents will sit in on a therapy session with their child. This can be very important to ensure that the adults know what goals are being worked on, and to help reinforce the homework activities until the next time.
Occasionally, it may be felt necessary to bring another adult into the therapy session. This can be a school teacher, childminder, or grandparent. There can often be reasons for this, from behaviours being observed at home, but not in therapy, to helping family members who are important in the child’s life to better understand the diagnosis and to how best to help. Another person can sit in and either be in the same room as you, or have access to the Zoom link for that particular session and then dial in. (This option works for teachers or SNAs who may be located in school at the time of the therapy session).
It is always best to let the therapist know that you will need to bring a family member or a third party onto your child’s therapy session. Depending on the reason, there may be a better way to assist, especially when it comes to trying to explain to a family member how to help your child in their daily life.
It can be distracting, or unnerving for a child to have a lot of other people watching them while they are having an SLT session, especially if it is someone who they usually wouldn’t see there. With online therapy, there is the option of our therapist recording a portion of the therapy session for you, and then sending it to you so you can share with someone else.
We also know that sometimes a sibling or siblings may need to be in the same room as where you are doing your child’s online therapy session – often due to childcare considerations. Again, please let the therapist know as much in advance as possible. Depending on the ages and circumstances, sometimes a brother or sister in the therapy session can act as a therapist helper. This can also mean that mum or dad has another person at home who can help them with tasks and homework during the week!
A general rule of thumb however if there is someone who you feel may need to sit in on a therapy session for your child, is to contact the therapist and discuss.