Graduate assistants create the lessons and activities, and provide one on one coaching during the sessions. The graduate assistants also participate in every activity along with the kids. The grad assistants develop speech goals, self-evaluate, and receive feedback from the group. A typical session consists of a snack, a sharing or creating activity, and one or two talking activities of various levels of complexity. Here, I will describe several observations that create the backbone of our session planning.
Children can be in charge of their speech therapy.
Through the therapy process, they learn how to change. Every session includes a time for the child to state goals, and they also write and illustrate their goals. Children can determine how they want to give and receive feedback. We continually encourage the children to give each other feedback, particularly positive feedback. Each group member gets to determine what type of feedback they want, such as gestural, verbal, or written.