The Foreign Service Journal, June 2012

72 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 2 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT work; so, instead, I sent her a Slinky in the mail. But after that session, I thought to myself, voila! It worked! As a speech pathologist, I was determined to pursue this delivery option. In developing my own tele- practice, I have found that it is an area of great interest to many practitioners. Health and rehabilitative professionals are now making their services avail- able to clients who otherwise would have had no access to therapy. The Foreign Service Family, In Particular What about Foreign Service fam- ilies? For some, telepractice might mean getting a single therapist; for others it could mean receiving a vari- ety of therapies and academic sup- port. If you think of a child with a learning disability requiring several types of services to address his edu- cational needs, you can begin to see how this might work. By examining the child’s perfor- mance scores on standardized tests and school performance records, a special education teacher might develop an Individual Education Plan or help implement an existing IEP from a school in the United States via telepractice. (An IEP is a document that stipulates the special education goals for a student, and is a require- ment for students who qualify for spe- cial education.) The special education teacher can also advise the school on modifica- tions to the curriculum for that child. To ensure proper implementation of the IEP, he or she can provide guid- ance to the local teacher in the form of online training seminars and con- sultations, and assist in the develop- ment of materials. A speech pathologist can provide online therapy for an articulation or language disorder. An occupational therapist may be needed to address fine and gross motor problems through direct therapy or consulta- tion. Specialist services like speech or Many early intervention programs and schools that find themselves unable to fill special education vacancies are now turning to telepractice. Continued from page 67