What is Teletherapy?

With teletherapy, consultations and therapy sessions are conducted remotely via a computer, laptop, tablet, or ipad with high speed internet. Using secure live video chat, our clients and family members are able to participate in a live, interactive therapy session from the comfort of their home. Teletherapy is recognized by our national association (SAC) and our provincial regulatory body (CASLPO) as one way to deliver speech therapy.

Who Can Benefit from Teletherapy?

A variety of circumstances can lead to a client or family choosing teletherapy over traditional clinic therapy. Following are a few scenarios in which a client or family might opt for teletherapy:

• Homeschooling families or those with multiple children for whom it is difficult to schedule regular clinic sessions for a single child
• Clients who are ill, homebound, or have compromised immune systems
• Clients who live far away or have or have limited access to reliable transportation for clinic visits
• Clients who have sustained recent concussions or head injuries and driving is difficult or being in a bright and noisy environment makes it challenging
• Clients with limited time during the day and wish to participate in a therapy session without the added time of travel

How Does Teletherapy Work?

Teletherapy sessions are scheduled in advance at a convenient time just like clinic visits. Once an appointment is scheduled, the client or family member receives an email with a private link to access the virtual “treatment room”. By clicking the link, the family is connected with the therapist within seconds in a videoconference. The videoconference platform that Chorus Speech and Hearing uses is compliant with Canadian privacy laws (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act – PIPEDA).

What Do I Need to Participate in Teletherapy?

The technology required for teletherapy is commonly found in households and includes:

• Computer, laptop, iPad, or tablet
• Webcam (included in iPads and most computers, but can be purchased inexpensively if needed)
• Headset or ear buds (not necessary for all client types or therapy sessions)
• High speed broadband internet (minimum of 3Mbps download speed and 1Mbps upload speed)

Are You Ready to Give Teletherapy a Try?

If you believe teletherapy may be right for you or your child, call us at 289-856-9933 or email us at info@choruscare.ca.

Chorus Speech & Hearing Centre hosted a May Speech & Hearing Month event at Tria Cafe in the Palermo Professional Building on May 28 to increase the awareness and profile of speech-language pathologists and audiologists. There was great food, prizes, and great company.

Bon-Hi Moon, a speech-language pathologist, presented on the general scope of practice of a speech-language pathologist. She highlighted the difference between speech and language and showed an inspiring clip of Carl McIntyre, an actor who suffered a severe stroke in Sept 2005 that left him with aphasia and apraxia of speech. If you haven’t had a chance to check him out, he is the main actor in the short film called Aphasia playing himself. She then shared an interesting swallowing case that helped identify the potential cause of someone’s long-standing complaints of “foods getting stuck” in her throat.

Leanne Secen, another speech-language pathologist, presented an interesting pediatric case where by changing the focus of therapy, therapy outcomes improved greatly. A once non-verbal child is using 20 words appropriately and continues to make progress in therapy. She also highlighted the importance of early identification and intervention. Sometimes, friends and family, and even well-meaning doctors may say “oh don’t worry, he’ll grow out of it,” but this may not be true in most cases. According to researchers, untreated speech and language impairments can result in long-lasting poor academic performance.

The final presentation was by John Moon, an audiologist, who presented on hazardous noises and the importance of hearing loss prevention. He shared some shocking examples of loud noises in our daily lives such as sporting events, children’s toys, and occupation related noise. Some noisy toys could be as loud as jet planes taking off when held right at the ear! He also highlighted that occupation related noise exposure is not only for those working in construction or manufacturing. People like hairdressers working with hairdryers all day, radiation technologists working with MRI machines, and dental professionals and clinicians working with their tools are at risk of hazardous noises that could lead to damaging hearing loss. And let’s not forget our young people who are constantly tethered to their personal devices and listening to loud music. Once you lose your hearing, it doesn’t come back! So the take-home message here was “let’s take care of our ears”.

Those in attendance had a chance to win great draw prizes like $50 gift cards to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Starbucks cards, and movie passes. Envision Eyecare also generously donated a pair of ladies Spy sunglasses.

Thank you to all who attended our first annual Chorus May Speech & Hearing Month Celebration and we hope to see you at next year’s event!

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about speech, language, swallowing, or hearing, please give Chorus a call at 289-856-9933 and we’d be more than happy to answer your questions.