Although ASHA has recognized telepractice as a viable method of service delivery for more than 15 years, many found themselves using it for the first time during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a 2020 survey of ASHA members, the number of respondents who indicated that they provided telepractice jumped from less than 5% before the pandemic to 70%.

Now, two forums in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (LSHSS) highlight the latest research for school-based clinicians who have discovered the benefits of telepractice. The 17 articles in these forums provide clinicians with evidence-based guidance on online assessment and intervention in communication sciences and disorders.

Can You See My Screen?

The first forum, titled “Can You See My Screen? Virtual Assessment in Speech and Language,” focuses on assessment. It documents the reliability and validity of assessment results conducted online and provides guidelines for interpreting them virtually. In their introduction, Guest Editors Elizabeth Peña and Rebecca Sutherland write that their forum was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After Peña and Sutherland’s introduction, Biggs et al. explore how the COVID-19 pandemic showcased the need for advanced training in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and telepractice. Later in the forum, Radville and colleagues also explore the topic of offering assessment training online.

Next, Pratt and colleagues compare in-person and virtual assessments of children from monolingual English and bilingual Spanish–English backgrounds. Bilingual children are also the focus of an article by Castilla-Earls et al., who compares vocabulary assessments for bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) in face-to-face and virtual environments.

Then, Nelson and Plante compare an assessment of integrated language and literacy skills delivered in person to one performed online. An article by Lund and Werfel attempts to measure growth in vocabulary, phonological awareness, and print knowledge in children with hearing loss through a virtual assessment.

Magimairaj et al. investigate a narrative language test delivered online and offer considerations for remote assessment. Chan et al. then explore the link between parent concerns and children’s language and reading abilities. Next, Schmitt et al. explore whether or not clinicians can assess expressive and receptive vocabulary in children with language impairment through telepractice.

Pena and Sutherland write, “Many clinicians and researchers conduct language assessments in virtual environments. However, the validity and reliability of these assessment outcomes is not widely known or understood” (Pena & Sutherland, p. 332). Through this forum, authors and researchers were largely able to validate these virtual assessment methods, showcasing a bright future for telepractice in communication sciences and disorders.

Want to hear more about virtual assessment from the guest editors themselves? Check out the video below!

The Future Is Now

The second forum, titled “Speech and Language Tele-Intervention: The Future Is Now,” focuses on intervention. In their introduction, Guest Editors Pauline Frizelle and Megann McGill write, “it’s clear that the advantages and benefits of telepractice will extend well beyond the pandemic. Telepractice is here to stay: The future is now!” (Frizelle & McGill, 2022, p. 236).

After the introduction, Dodge-Chin and colleagues discuss training for communication partners of children who use AAC via telepractice. Then, Peterson et al. describe their finding that an app-based intervention helped children ages 9–10 with residual speech errors affecting the sound /r/. In the next article, Arnold et al. discuss how they adapted conversational recasting, a well-studied language treatment method, to teletherapy for 5- to 6-year-old children.

The next two articles shift the focus to the telepractice experiences of clinicians and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. An article by Hall-Mills and colleagues explores SLPs’ experiences providing telepractice in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, Southby et al. describe parents’ views on speech-language pathology telepractice for children with cleft palate.

The final article in the forum by Curran and colleagues reviews theMinimal Intervention Needed for Change approach and shows its adaptation online in a small-group language intervention.

Together, the articles in this forum “provide a breadth of information related to telepractice treatment approaches and modifications for a number of [ . . . ] populations” (Frizelle & McGill, 2022, p. 236).

Virtual Assessment and Intervention

We hope you enjoy the 17 new articles in these two forums! We’d like to thank all four guest editors—Drs. Frizelle, McGill, Peña, and Sutherland—for their work bringing these timely forums together. You can read both forums in the latest issue of LSHSS, or explore the individual articles below!

Want to know more about telepractice? Our Special Collection combines articles from The ASHA Leader and the ASHA Journals with up-to-date ASHA resources all in one place. You can also check out more than 600 articles on telepractice on our topic page.

Can You See My Screen? Virtual Assessment in Speech and Language

Biggs, E. E., Burnett Rossi, E., Douglas, S. N., Therrien, M. C. S., & Snodgrass, M. R. (2022). Preparedness, training, and support for augmentative and alternative communication telepractice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 335–359. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-21-00159

Castilla-Earls, A., Ronderos, J., McIlraith, A., & Martinez, D. (2022). Is bilingual receptive vocabulary assessment via telepractice comparable to face-to-face? Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 454–465. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00054

Chan, J., Adlof, S. M., Duff, D., Mitchell, A., Ragunathan, M., & Ehrhorn, A. M. (2022). Examining the associations between parent concerns and school-age children’s language and reading abilities: A comparison of samples recruited for in-school versus online participation. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 431–444. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00080

Lund, E., & Werfel, K. L. (2022). The effects of virtual assessment on capturing skill growth in children with hearing loss. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 391–403. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00074

Magimairaj, B. M., Capin, P., Gillam, S. L., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., Fall, A.-M., & Gillam, R. B. (2022). Online administration of the Test of Narrative Language–Second Edition: Psychometrics and considerations for remote assessment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 404–416. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00129

Nelson, N. W., & Plante, E. (2022). Evaluating the equivalence of telepractice and traditional administration of the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 376–390. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-21-00056

Peña, E. D., & Sutherland, R. (2022). Can you see my screen? Virtual assessment in speech and language. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 329–334. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00007

Pratt, A. S., Anaya, J. B., Ramos, M. N., Pham, G., Muñoz, M., Bedore, L. M., & Peña, E. D. (2022). From a distance: Comparison of in-person and virtual assessments with adult–child dyads from linguistically diverse backgrounds. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 360–375. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00070

Radville, K. M., Larrivee, E., Baron, L. S., Kelley-Nazzaro, P., & Christodoulou, J. A. (2022). Online training modules for teaching assessment skills to graduate student clinicians. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 417–430. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-21-00068

Schmitt, M. B., Tambyraja, S., Thibodeaux, M., & Filipkowski, J. (2022). Feasibility of assessing expressive and receptive vocabulary via telepractice for early elementary-age children with language impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 445–453. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00057

Speech and Language Tele-Intervention: The Future Is Now

Arnold, H. L., Plante, E., & Vance, R. (2022). Translating enhanced conversational recast to a telepractice setting. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 275–289. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00051

Curran, M., Komesidou, R., & Hogan, T. P. (2022). Less is more: Implementing the Minimal Intervention Needed for Change approach to increase contextual fit of speech-language interventions. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 317–328. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00050

Dodge-Chin, C., Shigetomi-Toyama, S., & Quinn, E. D. (2022). Teaching parents read, ask, answer, prompt strategies via telepractice: Effects on parent strategy use and child communication. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 237–255. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00075

Frizelle, P., & McGill, M. (2022). Prologue to the forum: Speech and language tele-intervention: The future is now. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 233–236. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-21-00188

Hall-Mills, S., Johnson, L., Gross, M., Latham, D., & Everhart, N. (2022). Providing telepractice in schools during a pandemic: The experiences and perspectives of speech-language pathologists. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 290–306. https://doi.org/ 10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00023

Peterson, L., Savarese, C., Campbell, T., Ma, Z., Simpson, K. O., & McAllister, T. (2022). Telepractice treatment of residual rhotic errors using app-based biofeedback: A pilot study. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 256–274. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00084

Southby, L., Harding, S., Davies, A., Lane, H., Chandler, H., & Wren, Y. (2022). Parent/caregiver views of the effectiveness of speech-language pathology for children born with cleft palate delivered via telemedicine during COVID-19. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(2), 307–316. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00071