What to Expect in Your First Month of Speech Therapy

Starting something new is hard, especially when it involves your child and you are not sure what you are walking into. We hear from parents all the time who felt anxious before their first session, unsure what therapy would look like or whether their child would cooperate or whether they were doing the right thing.

You are doing the right thing. Here is what the first month of speech therapy at Spark actually looks like.

It starts with the evaluation

Before therapy begins, we do an evaluation. Depending on your child's age and what they can tolerate on that day, this may look like play-based observation, a more structured assessment, or a combination of both. We individualize our approach to every child.

The evaluation is where we gather the information we need to build a meaningful therapy plan. We observe how your child communicates, what motivates them, and where the gaps are. We talk with you about what you are seeing at home, because what happens outside our walls matters as much as what we observe in the room.

At the end of the evaluation we will tell you what we found, what it means, and what we recommend, in plain language without jargon.

Week one: getting to know each other

The first session of therapy is not about fixing anything. It is about building trust.

Your child is meeting a new person in a new space. Our job in that first session is to make that feel safe and even fun. We use a DIR Floortime approach, which means we follow your child's lead, enter their world, and build communication from within the activities they are already motivated to do.

We play with what your child wants to play with. We observe how they respond. We start laying the foundation that makes everything else possible.

You will likely leave the first session thinking, "that looked like playing." That is exactly right. Play is how children learn, and relationship is how therapy works.

The first few weeks: building the relationship

Meaningful progress in speech therapy requires trust between the clinician and the child. That trust takes time, and the first few weeks are largely about building it.

Some children warm up quickly. Others need more time. Both are completely normal, and neither tells you anything about how therapy will ultimately go.

During this period we are also refining our understanding of your child's communication profile, confirming the goals we set after the evaluation, and beginning to introduce therapeutic targets in a low-pressure, child-led way.

What you will notice at home

Parents sometimes worry when they do not see dramatic changes in the first few weeks. That is completely normal. The early work in therapy is foundational, not always immediately visible.

Early signs of progress often look like:

• More communication attempts, even without clear words

• Increased engagement during play

• Less frustration around making needs known

• New sounds or approximations of words

• Better response to directions or language input

You may also notice that your child is tired after sessions. Therapy is cognitively demanding even when it looks like play. That is a good sign. It means they are working hard.

Your role in the first month

You are not a drop-off service. You are the most important person in your child's communication development, and we want you involved.

At the end of each session we will share what we worked on and give you specific, simple things to try at home. You do not need a background in speech therapy to do this. The strategies we share are designed for real life, not a clinical setting.

This is not just a nice idea. Research consistently shows that parent-implemented home practice produces outcomes comparable to traditional therapy alone, and is significantly more effective than no practice at all. The families who see the fastest progress are almost always the ones who show up between sessions. Five to ten minutes a day of intentional communication play makes a real difference over time.

What progress actually looks like

Progress in speech therapy is rarely linear. Some weeks will feel like leaps. Others will feel like nothing is happening. Both are part of the process.

We track progress carefully and communicate with you regularly. If something is not working, we adjust. If your child is ready to move faster, we move faster. Therapy is not one-size-fits-all and we do not treat it that way.

What we ask of you in the first month is patience and engagement. Not blind trust, the kind you build by asking questions and staying involved. We welcome questions. We want you to understand what we are doing and why.

Tips for getting started

A few things that will help you and your child get the most out of the first month:

• Tell your child something simple and true. "We are going to a place where you get to play" is enough for most young children. Save the details for after they have experienced it themselves.

• Bring anything that helps your child feel comfortable. A favorite toy, a comfort object, a snack. We want their first experience with us to feel as easy as possible.

• Tell us everything on day one. The things you have noticed at home, the things that have worried you, the things other providers have said. Nothing is too small. The more we know going in, the better we can tailor the plan.

• Do not coach your child beforehand. We want to see how your child communicates naturally, not how they perform under pressure. Let them come in as themselves.

• Ask questions. Before, during, and after. If you do not understand something we said or something we are doing, ask. We would rather explain ten times than have you leave confused or worried.

We are here for the whole journey

Starting therapy is a brave thing. It means you saw something, trusted yourself, and took action for your child. That is not a small thing.

The first month is just the beginning. Some of the families we work with come to us in a moment of uncertainty and leave with a roadmap, a team, and a plan. That is what we are here to build with you.

We serve families across New Orleans and Jefferson Parish from our Uptown location at 2620 Jena Street. If you are just getting started or still thinking about it, reach out. We will walk you through everything.

Sources

Divya, S., et al. (2023). DIR/Floortime as a cost-effective, child-led intervention for social and emotional development. Systematic review.

Greenspan, S. I., & Wieder, S. (1997). Developmental patterns and outcomes in infants and children with disorders in relating and communicating. Journal of Developmental and Learning Disorders, 1, 87-141.

ASHA. Parent-implemented home therapy programmes for speech and language: A systematic review. apps.asha.org/EvidenceMaps

Casenhiser, D., Shanker, S., & Stieben, J. (2011). Learning through interaction in children with autism. Autism, 17(2), 220-241.