At Ascend Rehab Services (Ascend) the safety of children, families, and employees, are top of our mind. In response to the unprecedented circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter in place policies, Ascend is fully committed to continuing to provide services to the children and families, while at the same time supporting our staff employment. In order to support the safety and health of our community, Ascend rolled out Teletherapy as one of the leading adopters the first week of shut-down. We have been working with Regional Center School Districts, ESBA, etc., to establish proper protocols to ensure effective teletherapy regulations and to sustain the same level of high-quality care we exhibit at all times.
Teletherapy is an effective treatment method at these times, even just as good as in-person therapy. It is the application of video technology to the delivery of speech language pathology and audiology professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation (ASHA, 2020).Teletherapy is recognized by the California SLP Board, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), and supported by research as an effective modality to conduct services. It can be used to directly engage the child in therapeutic activities or to provide coaching to family members for how to work with their child on their speech objectives.
We currently run Teletherapy sessions with all Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, and Early Intervention staff. We have also given pro-bono online teletherapy webinars to Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists across the country in order to help kick-start other programs. Thanks to the wonderful staff at Ascend, Teletherapy is now interactive and engaging, while also ensuring the continuation of speech needs for the children we serve. For more information on Teletherapy related resources to children and families, Occupational Therapists, and Speech Pathologist, please click Resources Page to be re-directed. Families will find educational handouts for children, games, home-activities, and how to use Zoom/Webex in the section labeled Teletherapy Resources for Families. Occupational Therapists will find sensory activities, worksheets, and interactive games for Teletherapy in the section called Teletherapy Resources for Occupational Therapists. Speech Pathologists will find SLP specific websites for support, interactive cards and activities for Teletherapy, as well as fun games for kids in the section called Teletherapy Resources for Speech Pathologist.
Ascend continues to closely monitor the public health departments and following all recommendations related to shelter in place and ensuring the safety of its employees and families we serve. Once shelter in place is lifted, we will resume opening all physical locations. For any questions you may have regarding Teletherapy please contact info@ascendrehabinc.com.
Ascend also would like to thank all of the first responders, health care workers, our employees, the communities we serve, and any and all individuals who are working to keep us safe, healthy, and informed.
Sincerely,
Ascend Family
