5 Tips for Teachers: How to Talk With Parents About Speech and Language Concerns
Having to tell a parent that their child might need speech therapy can be anxiety provoking, but it’s an important conversation to have.
Hi Teachers!
You are invaluable partners to us speech therapists, and working with you and your school leaders over the years has opened our eyes to how speech and language delays are noticed, discussed and supported in the classroom. You all are on the front lines of child development, and in my humble opinion, the best equipped professionals to spot the early signs of delays.
No knock to pediatricians, but what makes you teachers good developmental detectives is that you see children’s communication skills in action and in direct comparison with a variety of their peers. When parents take their children to the doctor, the doctor is observing them for a blip in time and relying mostly on the parent’s report of their child’s development. And there are many factors complicating a parent’s ability to pick-up on delays early.
Teachers, it is you! Us developmental therapists need you to give parents a heads up and recommend speech therapy. But it is hard to relay news like this, so we want to support you.
Below are our Top Five Tips for talking with parents about speech delays
Tip #1: Establish Trust
Trust is important in this dynamic. Parents will better react to, and process the news of their child’s struggle if they feel safe and trust your judgment. Your judgment is without a doubt reliable, but how long they’ve known you, or their own psychological experiences factor into their perception of this. Our suggestion is to coordinate to find a staff member who has a trusting relationship with this family and incorporate them in the chat. That person might be you, but if it is early in the year it might be the head of school, or a member of the administrative staff that they chat with every day.
Tip #2: Use language of difference rather than disability or disorder
Discuss your observations through the lens of developmental and learning differences vs. concerns or problems as much as possible. As I am sure you are aware, the field of child development has come to understand delays as learning differences, or spectrums (e.g., neurotypical vs. neurodivergent). However, parents aren’t as plugged into this as we are, and they may bring stigmas and biases from their own lives to the table. Reassuring them that children develop in their own way, and at their own pace can be helpful.
Tip #3: Tell them about neuroplasticity and the value of early intervention
Reassure parents that their children are young. You can say things like: “development can be a stormy time; needing some support is okay; it can only help.” You will be speaking the truth!
Tip #4: Try to get specific if you can
Think about the root cause of what you’re seeing: Is it speech (clarity), language (vocabulary, sentence building, comprehension), or based in the realm of cognitive/play (attention, regulation, social skills). A mix of one, or more is very common. Giving parents a sense that you understand these topics can ease their mind and reassure them that you have their back.
If you think the teacher community in your school could benefit from workshops to better understand the nuances of speech and language development, we do that too. Read more here.
Tip #5: Provide them with options for support
Wouldn’t it be terrible to hear: “Your child is struggling and needs help” without a path toward a solution or more information? Make sure when you’re relaying information to parents about delays that you have a list of resources available to share with them. These can include trusted websites for more information, but most certainly should include a list of local providers who can take the reigns.
If you would like to refer families to BKST for a complimentary 30 minute phone consultation, you can do so here. We aim to not only be a support to them, but to you as part of our therapy programming 🙂
Bonus Tip: Trust yourself and your training
From experience I know these conversations can be daunting, but you can never go wrong with positivity, encouragement and kindness. As teachers, you all are the last people I would have to tell that to. You were trained for this!
If this was helpful, you can follow along with our blog, or on Instagram or LinkedIn for more tips. You can also check out our Services for Educators page for information on our school workshop services.