Are School-Based Speech Therapy Services Enough?
Table of Contents
School Vs. Outside Speech Therapy: The differences between school-based speech therapy services and speech therapy services outside of school
How Outside Speech Therapy Supports School-Based Speech Therapy: The benefits to seeking speech therapy support outside of the school setting.
We are entering a season of the school year where teachers are beginning to identify students who may require speech therapy services. Whether a child was recently identified as needing additional support or has been receiving speech therapy services for some time, a common question arises for many parents: “Are school-based speech therapy services enough?”
The short answer to this question is, “No.” While school-based speech therapy is beneficial, there can be limitations which result in slower progress and increased frustration. In this post, we’ll explore how speech therapy services outside of school support school-based speech therapy, and why a collaborative approach can lead to faster, more meaningful progress.
Understanding the Difference: School vs. Outside Speech Therapy
Before diving into how they work together, it’s helpful to understand how they differ:
School-Based Speech Therapy
Focus: Educational impact—supporting communication skills needed for classroom success.
Eligibility: Must show that a speech/language disorder negatively affects academic performance.
Setting: Delivered in small groups or individually, often in short sessions during school hours.
Services: Governed by the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).
Speech Therapy Services Outside of School
Focus: Treating speech and language disorders more comprehensively.
Eligibility: Based on diagnosis and quality of life, not just educational impact.
Setting: Usually one-on-one sessions in the home, a private clinic, or healthcare setting.
Services: Can address a broader range of needs- not as limited.
How Speech Therapy Outside of School Supports School-Based Therapy
When a child receives both types of therapy, the services can complement—not duplicate—each other. Here's how:
1. More Intensive Support
School-based therapists often have limited time and large caseloads. Students are often seen in a group setting for only 30 minutes a week. This leads to slower progress and students requiring services over many years. Consider learning to ride a bike. If a child practices in a large group for only thirty minutes a week, it will take much longer to learn to ride than someone who receives one-on-one instruction multiple times a week.
Also, children are often taken out of the classroom to receive services and can miss out on crucial educational and social experiences with their peers. Sessions outside of school can offer more frequent or longer sessions, providing extra time to build and reinforce skills. This results in students exiting school speech therapy programs faster and regaining the educational and social experiences with their peers.
2. Broader Goal Areas
Therapists outside of school can address goals that aren’t covered in the school setting. The main focus of school based speech services is educational impact- how does the concern affect the child’s educational performance. However, children’s speech and language difficulties often affect more than just education. Services outside of school can supplement school based services and target all impacted areas (home life, community involvement, etc.) other than education.
3. Consistency Across Settings
When all the speech language pathologists working with a child communicate, they can reinforce each other’s strategies, leading to more consistent carryover across environments (home, school, community). If a child is only working on skills in the school setting, they may become proficient with those skills in school but have difficulty carrying those skills over to home and community settings.
Let’s revisit learning to ride a bike. If a child only learns to ride their bike in their driveway, they may become masters of the driveway. However, if you take them to the park to ride, they will most likely struggle with the new terrain and increased obstacles. This may lead to more frustration, less enjoyment to ride, and regression of skills. The same thinking applies to speech and language development. By practicing a skill in multiple settings, the skill becomes reinforced at a faster rate and is easier to generalize to all situations.
4. Parent Involvement
Speech therapy sessions outside of school typically involve more direct parent interaction. Parents receive coaching, homework strategies, and regular updates—which can also benefit school progress. In the school setting, parents are often sent progress reports every couple of months but do not always have easy access to the school-based speech language pathologist.
5. Early Intervention & Continuity of Care
The earlier a child receives intervention, the faster and greater the outcomes. Children often don’t start receiving school-based services until they are in first grade or beyond. This results in many years of reinforcing speech and language errors. The longer a child reinforces these errors, the longer it will take to resolve them. Speech therapy services outside of school can start before a child qualifies for school services, and it can continue during breaks, summer, or after graduation—ensuring continuity of care.
Conclusion
Speech therapy services outside of school don’t replace school-based therapy—and school-based therapy doesn’t cover everything a child may need. They serve different purposes, but together, they offer a more complete support system.
By working hand-in-hand, speech language pathologists can help your child communicate more confidently—in the classroom, at home, and beyond.
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