Help me find a SLP to Skype

March 22, 2012 7:48 PM

How to best go about finding a speech-language pathologist that is willing to do Skype sessions?

Googling doesn't seem to be giving me good results, and I'm not sure if I'm not putting in good keywords, or if I'm having problems because it's not common enough.

I've tried searches for 'voice therapist skype' 'speech-language pathologist telepractice' and combinations of those.

What other ways can I search, and what tools besides google might be useful?

posted by trogdole to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has a professional directory, but telepractice isn't one of the search options. However, if you contact them, maybe they can provide some listings for you. They have a Telepractice Special Interest Group.
posted by candyland at 8:17 PM on March 22, 2012

There are entire practices that specialize in speech therapy and telepractice, but they usually contract with schools and don't usually take on individual clients (but I could be wrong, I'm not a telepractice expert!) Telepractice might also be limited to location (e.g. an SLP must be licensed in each state they have a client) and by insurance. You can try looking up SLPs at ASHA's website, or see if you can find the state's SLP organization (e.g. in Massachusetts it's MSHA: Massachusetts Speech and Hearing Association.) But I don't know of any individual SLP who do telepractice as a private practice set-up: the efficacy is still under review, insurance companies don't always pay for it, and the set up expense is a barrier (of course I could be wrong!) Universities might be a better bet as they tend to have research money to support telepractice *and* prove the efficacy behind it (disclosure: my university does this as a matter of fact. )

It will also depend on what the suspected difficulty is and whether or not you (or your loved one) has a diagnosis. Are you looking for a full assessment and diagnosis? Supplemental services? Is there a particular reason why you're looking for telepractice vs. traditional in-person therapy? More info might help guide your answers a little, but please don't feel like you have to divulge private information! I'm just trying to better understand where you're coming from so I can help answer your question better.
posted by absquatulate at 8:20 PM on March 22, 2012

I tried working backwards to look for telepractice slp *jobs* (I know I've gotten solicitations before but I don't remember any names) and found this place among the places that seem to only contract with schools. I don't know anything about them and there is no real information there about what kinds of services they offer to individuals or how much they charge.
posted by lilnublet at 8:27 PM on March 22, 2012

Just a couple things to keep in mind: The American Speech and Hearing Association requires that initial evaluations are conducted in person, rather than by Skype or phone. So, if you're looking at someone very far away from you, you would still have to arrange somehow to see them in person for the initial evaluation.

Also, speech-therapists are also required to be licensed in the state where they practice, so you would want to limit your search to within your state.
posted by shortyJBot at 4:45 AM on March 23, 2012

(or who holds a license to practice in the state where you have residency)
posted by shortyJBot at 4:52 AM on March 23, 2012