School vs. Private Practice

“My child receives speech therapy at school. Would he/she benefit from private speech therapy as well?”

The short answer, absolutely! Both school-based and private speech therapy can be beneficial for your child’s progress in their speech and language goals. In order to best answer this frequently asked question, Seedlings has outlined the similarities and differences between school speech therapy and private practice speech therapy in the table below.

	School Therapy	Private Practice
Qualifications	In some states, including Minnesota, the state requires speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to hold a professional educator license to work in the schools.	In order to work in a private practice, SLPs must have a valid speech language pathology license within the states they are operating in. *Both clinicians are required to obtain a graduate degree in Speech and Language pathology, pass the praxis exam, complete a Clinician Fellowship Year in order to hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC), and obtain an up-to-date state speech therapy license.
Eligibility for Services	To be eligible for school-based speech therapy, the child would need to be evaluated through the schools and meet predetermined requirements to receive an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) through the special education program. Federal and state law outlines strict eligibility criteria for students to qualify for school-based services which often need to be significantly delayed or disorder to qualify as well as a negative impact on educational performance.	In private practice, children can qualify for services through an evaluation, observation and caregiver feedback which shows the child presents with some type or degree of communication impairment. Private practice speech therapists can recommend early intervention services prior to having the impairment progress to a more severe level.
Group vs. Individual Therapy	In schools, SLPs can follow the push-in or push-out model. The push-in model is typically for younger children to help them within the classroom. The push-out model allows the child to leave the classroom to attend speech therapy. Most children are seen in small groups due to the relatively high numbers of school caseloads. Groups can be categorized based on the SLP’s preference, and is usually grouped by age or impairment type.	In Private Practice, SLPs will treat the patient individually in order to tailor the treatment plan to meet the child’s unique learning styles and preferences.
Session Length and Frequency	Most students are seen 1-2x/week for 20-30 minutes. Speech sessions are scheduled around the child’s classroom schedule to minimize loss of instruction time.	In private practice, the therapist can determine session length and frequency based on the child’s needs. Frequency can be 1-3x/week and duration is 30-60 minutes.
Cost of Services	If your child qualifies for school-based services, the services are provided at no costs to the family as part of FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education).	​In private practice, payment is the family’s responsibility. Some private practices take insurance, while others do not. Seedlings Pediatric Therapy provides a Superbill that can be provided for families to submit to their insurance for possible reimbursement.
Parent Involvement	Typically, there are 1-2 IEP meetings per year for families. Some SLPs will make a conscious effort to send weekly homework or communicate with families, although this can be challenging with high caseloads.	At Seedlings, we believe in the importance of parent involvement and education! We encourage parents to participate in sessions in order to best support their child outside of therapy. If the parent is unable to participate, we will designate a couple minutes after each session to discuss progress, homework, and gather additional information. If therapy is provided at the child’s daycare or school, weekly emails or phone calls are provided.

It is important to note that school-based SLPs want the best for each and every one of their students, but services can be limited due to strict eligibility criteria and high caseload capacities at the schools. Private practice SLPs tend to typically carry smaller caseloads, which allows for more individualized treatment plans and family involvement within the sessions.

If your child did not qualify for speech therapy through the schools or you are interested in additional private services for your child, contact Seedlings Pediatric Therapy for an evaluation to determine the best treatment plan for your seedling!

Resources:

Jurevicius, Kate. “School vs. Private Speech Therapy- What's the Difference?” Communicate With Kate LLC, Communicate With Kate LLC, 25 Jan. 2021, https://www.communicatewithkate.com/blog/2017/9/6/school-speech-therapy-vs-private-whats-the-difference#:~:text=In%20a%20school%20setting%2C%20the,and%20needs%20of%20the%20client.

Robson , Jamela. “Important Info for Parents about School vs. Private Speech Therapy.” Marigold Pediatric Therapies, 9 Mar. 2020, https://www.marigoldpediatrictherapies.com/post/important-info-for-parents-about-school-based-and-private-speech-language-therapy-services.