Telepractice in Speech–Language Therapy - The Use of Online Technologies for Parent Training and Coaching

Oct 15, 2026

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Researchers and practitioners find telepractice increases access to high-quality speech–language services that address children’s unique communication needs. The paper proposes a framework that transfers practices from direct speech–language therapy into parent training and coaching delivered via telepractice. It overlays telepractice onto parent coaching, provides guidance for converting direct-service strategies, and includes recommendations for common implementation challenges, with an example application in Early Intervention. Speech–language pathologists can combine direct services with coaching to support parents’ use of communication-improving strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Telepractice definition and rationale

Benefits and access considerations

Article purpose and proposed framework

Example in Early Intervention

Current uses in speech–language therapy

Telepractice in Speech–Language Therapy: The Use of Online Technologies for Parent Training and Coaching Melinda R. Snodgrass, PhD 1, Moon Y. Chung, MS2, Maysoon F. Biller, MA, CCC-SLP3, Katie E. Appel, BS4, Hedda Meadan, PhD, BCBA-D2, and James W. Halle, PhD2 Communication Disorders Quarterly 2017, Vol. 38(4) 242–254 © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2016 Reprints and permissions: [sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav](sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav)[ ](sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav)[DOI: 10.1177/1525740116680424](DOI: 10.1177/1525740116680424)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/1525740116680424)[cdq.sagepub.com](cdq.sagepub.com) Abstract Researchers and practitioners have found that telepractice is an effective means of increasing access to high-quality services that meet children’s unique needs and is a viable mechanism to deliver speech–language services for multiple purposes. We offer a framework to facilitate the implementation of practices that are used in direct speech–language therapy into parent training and coaching. We overlay the use of telepractice onto parent training and coaching to provide a framework that guides the conversion of practices used in direct service to parent training and coaching programs that can be used via telepractice. We include recommendations for addressing common challenges to providing parent training and coaching via telepractice with an example of the framework’s application in Early Intervention. Using this framework, speech–language pathologists can combine telepractice with direct services by teaching and coaching parents in the use of strategies to improve their children’s communication skills. Keywords social communication, family/parent issues, intervention strategies, service delivery, technology Telepractice refers to services provided from a distance using videoconferencing or other technologies (American Speech–Language–Hearing Association [ASHA], n.d.) . Because the technology to support videoconferencing has developed rapidly in recent decades and access to the Internet has become increasingly available (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2013), telepractice has emerged as another means of delivering services, enabling speech–language pathologists (SLPs) to provide effective services to individuals with communication disorders and delays (ASHA, n.d.; Cason, Behl, & Ringwalt, 2012; Keck & Doarn, 2014; McCarthy, 2013) . Telepractice has been promoted as a means of overcoming some of the challenges to in-home or clinic-based services. Some examples of these benefits include reducing the expense and time associated with travel and with rescheduling canceled or missed appointments (Anderson, Balandin, Stancliffe, & Layfield, 2014; Cason et al., 2012; Gibson, Pennington, Stenhoff, & Hopper, 2010) . In addition, telepractice has been identified as a medium for increasing access to services for clients living in rural areas or in neighborhoods perceived as unsafe by service providers (Carter, Muir, & McLean, 2011) . Clients who do not have access to a service provider from their own culture or one who speaks their own language may benefit from telepractice, and clients who cannot travel to receive services as a result of a disability or financial hardship might also benefit from using telepractice (Carter et al., 2011; Pham, 2014) . Given the advances in technology and the advantages of telepractice, SLPs are increasingly embracing new technologies to facilitate service delivery to their clients (see [http://www.asha.org/SIG/18/](http://www.asha.org/SIG/18/)). The purpose of this article is to describe a framework of parent training and coaching that can be used to incorporate strategies SLPs use during direct service to children into supports parents use during home-based activities with their children. By incorporating parent training and coaching into service delivery, SLPs can more easily use telepractice as a means for providing services to children with communication

FAQs

What does the article propose for telepractice use in speech–language therapy?

It provides a framework to implement practices used in direct speech–language therapy into parent training and coaching delivered via telepractice.

Why is telepractice considered valuable for speech–language services?

It improves access to high-quality services and supports delivery to multiple groups and settings, including clients who face travel, scheduling, or geographic barriers.

How can speech–language pathologists use this framework in practice?

By combining telepractice with direct services, teaching and coaching parents to use strategies that improve their children’s communication skills.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by jay