Working With a Child Who Frequently Misses

¶ … working with a child who frequently misses the treatment sessions and whose parents do not follow your recommendations outside of therapy. How would you handle this situation?

Very young children depend upon their parents for ensuring regular attendance; the parents are responsible that their child does not miss treatment sessions. It is also the parents' responsibility to follow clinician's recommendations outside of therapy room. Parents must make every effort to make sure their child is working toward his/her goals in therapy. When children frequently miss the speech-language therapy sessions, their progress slows down and they are more likely to regress during these periods of time when they are not receiving treatment. This may result in a longer duration of speech-language services. It is very important not to miss scheduled therapy sessions in order to support improvement of communication skills. Parental involvement is an important factor in a child's success toward speech-language goals. When parents help their child practice new skills at home, they are promoting generalization or carryover to a natural environment. The combination of direct speech-language services and home practice allows a child to maximize his/her potential.

When a child frequently misses speech-language therapy sessions I would do the following:

Send a written notice of continuing non-attendance to the parent or guardian.

Hold a meeting with the parent to discuss solutions to the child's absences. For example, if the parent is working full-time and cannot escort the child to therapy sessions on particular days and/or time, I would try to adjust my work schedule in order to meet my client's needs. I would also advise the parent to plan visits to the doctor or dentist during those days when the child doesn't have scheduled treatment sessions or after the school day ends when the child attends an elementary school. I would also recommend to the parents to talk to me before they plan their holidays or vacation. It would give me an opportunity to schedule the makeup sessions to ensure that the child does not miss any treatment session.