Shadow Consultation Program

Our families have used our Shadow Consultation Program in numerous ways such as: 1) at school when their child needs additional help with social skills, classroom skills, or emotional regulation skills; 2) at home with babysitters and 3) at home with home schooling.

School Shadowing

There are numerous reasons to utilize a shadow within your child’s preschool setting such as: increasing their classroom skills (i.e.: following along with the school day, participating within structured group times, participating within play, etc); increasing their social communication skill; increasing their play skills; increasing their overall attention and participation; increasing theory of mind and perspective taking skills; and much more.

When choosing a shadow families best choice (for the most progress and the fastest progress) is to utilize a KidSpeak, LLC speech and language pathologist. When this occurs the therapist accompanies the child at school throughout the day (the entire day or portions of the day) and is charged as Individual Therapy.

The second option is to use our Shadow Consultation Program where the family utilizes a student to accompany their child at school throughout the day and we help them train/supervisor the student.

The first step is having your child complete a Speech and Language Evaluation.  Once your child has completed an evaluation, your KidSpeak, LLC therapist will be able to help your family with the shadow/consult process.

Step One: Finding a School

If you have not found a school, KidSpeak, LLC would be happy to help your family find a school that is a nice fit for your child. We cannot promise that we will find one; however, we will do our best to find the most appropriate school setting for your child. Typically we are able to provide families with 2 - 5 different school options (enrollment depends 100% on the school).  

Step Two: Finding a Shadow

If you have not already found a shadow, KidSpeak, LLC would be happy to help your family find a shadow. We again cannot promise that we will find a shadow; however, we will do our best to find the most appropriate shadow for your child. Typically we are able to provide the family with 2 - 4 different options (the family is then asked to interview and create a contract for the shadow); however, there have been a few semesters over the last 12 years where we have found only 1 option or 0 options. The cost for finding a shadow is embedded within your Monthly Shadow Consultation Program Fee; however, if you choose not to participate within this program you will charged as an Educational Consultation.

 Step Three: Meetings with Family, Shadow and Teacher

1)      Meeting 1: Therapist and shadow meeting (to discuss child, shadow expectations, school environment and more).  This meeting will take place at the KidSpeak, LLC office.  This meeting is part of the Shadow Consultation Program; therefore, there is no additional charge for this.

2)      Meeting 2: Therapist, shadow and parent meeting (to discuss expectations, dates for future meetings and more).  This meeting will take place at the KidSpeak, LLC office.  The cost is $160/hour. This is not part of the Shadow Consultation Program-- this is at an additional cost. This is optional.

3)      Meetings 3, 4 and 5:  Therapist, shadow and parents meet with child’s teachers (prior to the beginning of the semester, at mid-semester and prior to the end of the semester) to discuss expectations and use of the shadow as well as how the child is doing in his or her environment.  The therapist may make a variety of visuals to help the child in the classroom. These meetings will take place at your child’s school. This may or may not be included within your Shadow Consultation Program Monthly Fee — please see your therapist for details. This is optional.

Step Four: Weekly/Monthly Shadow/Therapist Visits

1)    Therapist and shadow Meetings Throughout the Semester (via in person,  email, phone or telehealth): Throughout the semester your therapist will meet with the shadow for training sessions. These sessions focus on helping your shadow understand your child’s skills, their specific needs throughout the day, different tools and supports to use throughout the day, reviewing daily notes, discussing any problems and much more. Before shadowing a student typically participates within 2- 3 training sessions that are 1- 3 hours long (depending on their experience). During the first month of shadowing the shadow meets with the therapist 1 time a week for 1 - 2 hours. After the first month the meetings are determined by the therapist: these may be every week, every other week or every month.

**Parents will be provided with a detailed daily note per week and a detailed invoice each month. Their KidSpeak, LLC Invoice will detail how many hours their therapist has spent with their shadow. This is a semester long program — there will be months where your therapist spends more time with the shadow and months where they spend less. Parents are responsible for creating a contract for their shadow and paying them directly (ranging from $12 - $20/hour depending on their experience). Parents are also responsible for paying the Shadow Consultation Program Fee which is $400/month for the entire semester. Fall semester range from August - December; Spring semesters are December - May; and Summer semesters are May - August. Even if you start this program mid-semester you are responsible for payment for all months.

Due to COVID-19 many schools are not allowing Shadows for the 2020-2021 School Year

At Home Shadowing

There are numerous reasons to utilize a shadow at home. Many of our families have utilized shadows at home to help with homework, homeschooling and even “skilled babysitting” (Skilled babysitting is what we call when your sitter is trained by a KidSpeak, LLC therapist to utilize our strategies and tools throughout their day. They often have their own set of visuals, plans and activities for their kids).

Families may always utilize a speech and language pathologist or speech and language pathologist assistant through our Individual Therapy Services, Home Consultations Services, Speech and Language Tutoring Services or our Home School Helpers Services; however, we do understand that this may be not be financially possible for all families — in these situations using a Student at Home is a great ways to help!

For this the family will participate within our Shadow Consultation Program — as described above. There will be minor differences but for the most part the program is very similar.

The first step for either program is for your child to participate within a Speech and Language Evaluation.  Once your child has completed an evaluation, your KidSpeak, LLC therapist will be able to help your family with the shadow/consult process.

If you are interested in this service or have any questions please contact Amanda Rollins, MS, CCC-SLP at 214-636-0871 or at Amanda@kidspeakdallas.com.

**In order to help your child the best within their school environment it is also recommended that your child participate within at least one weekly individual speech and language therapy visit.**

** KidSpeak, LLC travels within a 15 mile radius from our office.  If your school is outside of this 15 mile radius there is an additional $20 travel fee (for every additional 15 miles).**