Parent perspectives on effectiveness of speech language pathologists during home visits for early intervention

Within the fields of counseling and psychology, the client-clinician alliance has been identified as an important factor for therapeutic change (Wampold, 2001). The current study aims to extend this finding into the realm of home-based early intervention services. Because these services are conducted in the home, families interact frequently with speech language pathologists (SLPs). Therefore, characterizing the relationship between parent and clinician has important implications for positive perceptions of therapy. Thematic analysis of surveys and interviews completed by two parents revealed their perceptions of how effective their SLPs were during the early intervention process. They identified two specific components that led to positive experiences: the logistics of therapy and the parent-clinician alliance. Similar to the findings in other fields, the relationship between clients and clinicians play an important role in the home-based early intervention process. SLPs need to develop interpersonal skills that facilitate a strong client-clinician relationship. Specifically, agreeing with parents on the role of therapy and teaching parents strategies to use with their children were important themes in our study. Likewise, open lines of communication, in both written and oral modalities, as well as clinician comfort with parents and children were highly valued factors for a clinician to possess. Teaching SLPs how to develop positive client-clinician relationships will lead to positive early intervention experiences.