Addressing the Issues: "Bag-Free" Therapy

re: Addressing the Issues: "Bag-Free" Therapy

stephanie bruno — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:08:40 GMT

Sandy ~ Thank you for your comment. One thought I had in response would be to make sure you are clear on both your role in the home and what the expectations of the parents are - setting the stage early and talking to parents about the plan of care is important. That way they know what to expect and understand their role in the assistance of their child's progress.

re: Addressing the Issues: "Bag-Free" Therapy

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:31:26 GMT

I admire your ability to be "bag free", but my experience has been one of 'no toys' or 'cleaned area' to work without access to bedroom locations where toys might be available. Many of my parents appear to 'expect' toys to be brought in and leave the instruction area to attend to household chores or phone conversations or 'smoke breaks'. Most clients' families appear to expect even more than I provide (which is a lot).

re: Addressing the Issues: "Bag-Free" Therapy

Donna Snyder — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:22:14 GMT

I have been on both the provider and the parent ends of home visits. Young children look forward to having a new toy or special materials to play with when their "teacher" comes to the house. It sparks their interest and can be used judiciously to keep them engaged.

Parents enjoy having new ideas to build on for their own activities for the other 6 or more days between visits. It works well to say: "Here is how I am using this ___ to encourage "___ and you could substitute his own ___ to do the same thing." Then show them how with their own toys or household items.

Keep your activities applicable to their everyday lives and help families make the connections. We do not intend to entertain but to motivate and empower as well as model good communication strategies.

re: Addressing the Issues: "Bag-Free" Therapy

steph bruno — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:08:46 GMT

Monika ~ GREAT suggestions and ideas. Thank you so much for sharing what you do and how "bag free" works for you. You've sparked my creativity with your ideas!! I really like the idea of going through the child's toys to find ones that support the articulation goals - wonderful ideas. Thank you!!

p.s. I agree, I never ask or expect parents to buy anything. Once in a while they will offer or ask for toy suggestions (especially around birthdays and holidays) and I do make recommendations if appropriate.

re: Addressing the Issues: "Bag-Free" Therapy

Monika Zubradt — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:14:03 GMT

Hi again Stephanie- I agree it was difficult to address phonological goals while going "bag free" at first, and it took some rethinking on my part. For example, right now I have a little client who only uses a CV word shape. When I come, we search through his toys (he has a lot) for items that represent CVC words (e.g., dog, pig, duck) to play with. One session, he was playing with a large box when I got there. The activity lent itself to repetition of the words "out", "fit", "foot". His parents have been eager to participate and I often hear his dad modeling/repeating words like "up" and "beep" while they are playing. I have another client who I see at his daycare. Since he is working on initial fricatives, the lunchtime routine lends itself to words like "soap", "sit", "soup", "food", "fork", etc. Just today, one little girl (25 months) I work with, brought me a phonebook. We (her mom too) started looking for pictures of "people" and before we knew it she was imitating "more people".

I do occasionally bring toys or activities into the home, especially when we have decided to address a new goal, but usually discuss the strategy with the parent the week before. I try to avoid making the parents feel like they have to buy special toys or items. As we all know, kids love playing with things that most homes have: boxes, cups, spoons, balls, empty milk jugs, etc. The key to going "bag free" for me has been to always keep the child's goals in mind, and to consistently relate strategies to the parents or caregivers while engaged in daily activities.