According to the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), family centered practice is defined as a collaborative approach to speech therapy services centered in partnership among individuals served, families and providers. Each member of the team is equally important and is recognized for their knowledge, skills and experiences.

At Family Partners, we work with you to identify your child’s goals according to your family’s priorities. We empower parents and caregivers through education and evidence-based strategies to build your child’s communication success.

There are many benefits to adopting a family-centered approach in speech therapy.

• Learning about family systems improve clinical decision making. The clinician can better understand the context of the child’s communicative functioning at home, and therefore, can better design assessment and interventions fitting to the individual child.
• The clinician learns about both the strengths of the child and their families that can be used to build on their skills in therapy.
• When plans are made collaboratively, families and the clinician foster accountability and better follow-through.
• Effective communication brings about transparency and builds mutual respect, leading to fewer misunderstandings.
• Family-centered practice lead to better outcomes. Families report greater satisfaction with services.