Speech Therapy during recess?

[Dew5077]

Has anyone ever heard of Speech Therapy being done during recess?

I was just asked if I would consider changing the location for 2 of his 4 days from "therapy room" to "across school settings " so he can have recess 3 days instead of the 1 day he is getting now because that's "the only time we can schedule him in during the week. " because "he gets so much pull out time already." 

Needless to say, I am pissed. They scheduled it and never told me when it was. He's been going with recess only 1 day a week for 3 weeks now. Um, they know he's adhd too.... 

How do I diplomatically tell them to figure out another solution? 

[Lisa Lightner]

Yes. Something's got to give, there are only so many hours in a day. If you don't like the current set up, request a change.

We have parents in here who are "pissed" that their kid gets pulled out of core classes, and they fall behind. Others, like you are "pissed" that they get pulled from recess and specials, leaving no fun time in the day.

Don't take it personally, they're scheduling what they thought would work. If your child gets a lot of pull out time, then you're going to have to work with the team to prioritize.

[Christy McGuire]

I would add that it is significant that they came to you to ask that he not miss recess. That means someone saw this as a problem and is trying to fix it. 

As a side note, accross settings can be really important and effective. I have noticed that my kids can often produce the right sounds in therapy, but not elsewhere. This change may be beneficial a couple of ways.

[Angela Tyszka]

My 7 year old also has ADHD and an IEP with Speech services. Prior to his last IEP meeting I asked him about his SLP and what he was doing in speech. He told me, "Mom, I don't like speech." When I probed further I found out the reason he didn't like it was that he was being pulled from recess and he missed playing with his friends. Since he is a child that really needs to decompress and have breaks from learning during the day, I just told the team what he had told me and asked if there was another time he could be pulled. The SLP consulted with the teacher and found a time when he would not miss recess and would impact the rest of the curriculum the least. Sometimes it's just a matter of asking

[Mackn]

Since everything is important in his development.  You could write a letter asking for other options for your child to eat lunch. 

[Dew5077]

On 10/5/2022 at 7:42 PM, Christy McGuire said:

I would add that it is significant that they came to you to ask that he not miss recess. That means someone saw this as a problem and is trying to fix it. 

As a side note, accross settings can be really important and effective. I have noticed that my kids can often produce the right sounds in therapy, but not elsewhere. This change may be beneficial a couple of ways.

They didn't come to me at all. At the beginning of the school year, we start after Labor Day, I was told he would miss 1 day a week of recess. Then I find out he's only getting 1 day a week of recess. I guess I missed making that clear in my initial rant.... I guess this isn't a "safe place" to vent? I don't know... 

Since I posted, they figured out 3 times the SLP can "push in" to classes where she is confident that she can work with him in those settings. So he will only miss recess 1 day a week now for his group session. 

I was more flabbergasted that they thought I would be OK with him not going to recess. I was a Physical Education teacher before we moved here. They knew that. I think I had 1 of his teachers in my class even..... 

[Dew5077]

On 10/9/2022 at 8:28 AM, Angela Tyszka said:

My 7 year old also has ADHD and an IEP with Speech services. Prior to his last IEP meeting I asked him about his SLP and what he was doing in speech. He told me, "Mom, I don't like speech." When I probed further I found out the reason he didn't like it was that he was being pulled from recess and he missed playing with his friends. Since he is a child that really needs to decompress and have breaks from learning during the day, I just told the team what he had told me and asked if there was another time he could be pulled. The SLP consulted with the teacher and found a time when he would not miss recess and would impact the rest of the curriculum the least. Sometimes it's just a matter of asking

Thank you for not attacking me and understanding my frustration. My son has no friends because he has been in a self contained class until this year. He didn't need to be there, now that we know he is dyslexic, I was finally able to get him in gen ed.

I did put it in writing asking to work with them to figure out a different solution once they confirmed what I was told by my son.  I posted above the changes. Now I just hope it works the way we want it to.

[Christy McGuire]

On 10/17/2022 at 9:52 PM, Dew5077 said:

They didn't come to me at all. At the beginning of the school year, we start after Labor Day, I was told he would miss 1 day a week of recess. Then I find out he's only getting 1 day a week of recess. I guess I missed making that clear in my initial rant.... I guess this isn't a "safe place" to vent? I don't know... 

Since I posted, they figured out 3 times the SLP can "push in" to classes where she is confident that she can work with him in those settings. So he will only miss recess 1 day a week now for his group session. 

I was more flabbergasted that they thought I would be OK with him not going to recess. I was a Physical Education teacher before we moved here. They knew that. I think I had 1 of his teachers in my class even..... 

Hi, I am so sorry. It was not my intention to attack you in any way. My intention was to be proactive. Glad to hear what you are getting what he needs.

[Loree LaChance]

Good morning,

Just catching up on this. The other thing I would look at in terms of using recess to do specific academic tasks, even related services, is the school wellness policy. The national wellness policy - tied to free and reduced lunch money, prohibits recess from being taken away for academic or behavioral reasons. I know it is not routinely followed, but that stipulation has been around for about 10 years.

Loree

[Dew5077]

On 10/21/2022 at 9:27 PM, Christy McGuire said:

Hi, I am so sorry. It was not my intention to attack you in any way. My intention was to be proactive. Glad to hear what you are getting what he needs.

You didn't. As long as they do what they say they are going to do, this week, and moving forward, he will only miss 1 day of recess! Yay! It's an improvement! 

[LDove]

We have pulls outs during core classes. This works for us bc slp is for pragmatic communication which helps when he’s disregulated. If he’s disregulated he won’t access the curriculum. 

[Christy McGuire]

On 10/24/2022 at 1:09 PM, Dew5077 said:

You didn't. As long as they do what they say they are going to do, this week, and moving forward, he will only miss 1 day of recess! Yay! It's an improvement! 

Awesome!! Glad to hear that.