[email protected]919-610-8219 Unit 3 Session Notes In a telepractice setting, the facilitator is your life line. The facilitator is the person or people assisting you and the client/student/teacher/administrators in school settings, and ensures a smooth teletherapy experience for everyone involved. As Kent State researcher (and EBS Telepractice Team Member) Robyn Alvares states in an article published in ASHA Perspectives (Working With Facilitators to Provide School-Based Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice) for Special Interest Group 18 (Telepractice), the facilitator… “becomes the face of the telepractice program,” and represents the program at a site at which the SLP will rarely, if ever set foot in the building. A common misconception: the facilitator's job is to manage (babysit) the students who are using the computer during therapy sessions. This view is not only insufficient in describing their role, it can discourage people from agreeing to fill this role since it relegates the person to the role of a classroom monitor who just keeps behaviors in check. A better understanding of the role will help command a greater deal of respect for this team member, and help you prepare the facilitator in a much more supportive manner. Also, once you establish a structure to your sessions and establish a routine with your students, behavior monitoring should not be an ongoing concern. Your facilitator can be any appropriately trained individual who is on-site and typically present with the students during sessions. The responsibility of training the facilitator will largely be yours. A license or certificate of any kind is not required to fill this role. The person can be a teacher’s assistant, special education assistant or classroom aide, volunteer or parent, or a speech-language Orientation and Certification Course Course Outline Unit 1 – Introduction, Learning Outcomes, Important Terminology Unit 2 – Ethics, Certification and State Licensure Unit 3 – The Role of the Facilitator Unit 4 – Your Telepractice Therapy Setting Unit 5 – Your Teletherapy Support Network Unit 6 – IEP Participation Unit 7 – Basic Technical Requirements and Equipment Operation Unit 8 – Scheduling, Session Management and Review
Unit 3 Session Notes In a telepractice setting, the facilitator is your life line. The facilitator is the person or people assisting you and the client/student/teacher/administrators in school settings, and ensures a smooth teletherapy experience for everyone involved. As Kent State researcher (and EBS Telepractice Team Member) Robyn Alvares states in an article published in ASHA Perspectives (Working With Facilitators to Provide School-Based Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice) for Special Interest Group 18 (Telepractice), the facilitator… “becomes the face of the telepractice program,” and represents the program at a site at which the SLP will rarely, if ever set foot in the building. A common misconception: the facilitator's job is to manage (babysit) the students who are using the computer during therapy sessions. This view is not only insufficient in describing their role, it can discourage people from agreeing to fill this role since it relegates the person to the role of a classroom monitor who just keeps behaviors in check. A better understanding of the role will help command a greater deal of respect for this team member, and help you prepare the facilitator in a much more supportive manner. Also, once you establish a structure to your sessions and establish a routine with your students, behavior monitoring should not be an ongoing concern. Your facilitator can be any appropriately trained individual who is on-site and typically present with the students during sessions. The responsibility of training the facilitator will largely be yours. A license or certificate of any kind is not required to fill this role. The person can be a teacher’s assistant, special education assistant or classroom aide, volunteer or parent, or a speech-language
pathology assistant (or SLP-A), but the SLP-A option is only safe when there is a supervising clinician on-site as well, to avoid crossing the lines and mixing responsibilities of someone who is there under a clinical supervision arrangement. Typically, it will be up to the school administrators or special education staff to select a facilitator. Meet with this person before your weekly schedule is implemented. Communication might start with emails, and you’ll want to exchange cell or phone numbers with the facilitator. You’re going to need a schedule, and this may be the first task at hand involving your facilitator. Your schedule may be assembled for you by an administrator or special education teacher. Or, your facilitator can take the caseload information you give them to each of the classroom teachers to begin the process of finding out which time slots will be best for each student on your caseload. You may be able to start the scheduling or introductions with teachers via email, but if your facilitator is already familiar with the staff, the students, the school principal and the daily school schedule, they may be able to help you do this in a quicker and more efficient manner. The arrangement you have with your facilitator or facilitators will vary at almost every school you service. You may have one dedicated facilitator assisting you consistently every day you provide services. You may have one facilitator in the morning, and a different facilitator in the afternoon. You may service more than one school in the same district, and work with a facilitator who travels locally to each school. Whatever the arrangement is, it can only help if you express your gratitude and willingness to help in any way possible right from the start. Make your facilitator feel like an invaluable part of your team. State Regulations Although the facilitator is not required to hold a license or certificate, some state telepractice requirements do define the role of the facilitator clearly. The regulations for Maryland and Montana, for example, define the facilitator as… “a trained individual who is physically present with the patient and facilitates telepractice at the direction of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist. A facilitator may be but is not limited to an audiology or speech-language pathology aide or assistant.” The state of Ohio defines the facilitator as…”the individual at the client site who facilitates the telehealth service delivery at the direction of the audiologist or speech language pathologist. For purposes of fulfilling their role, as defined under this chapter,
an individual may serve as a facilitator, at the direction of the audiologist or speech language pathologist, without becoming licensed as an aide…” West Virginia’s regulations state… “Facilitators may be used to assist clients on site when telepractice services are provided. The Speech-Language Pathologist or Audiologist is responsible for conducting the session and directing the activities of the facilitator. The facilitator may be a teacher's aide, a nursing assistant, a speech-language pathology or audiology assistant or other type of support personnel.” “The Speech-Language Pathologist or Audiologist is responsible for ensuring the facilitator is appropriately trained to provide the type of assistance needed. Activities may include: 15.3.b.1. Escorting client/patient or student to and from sessions; 15.3.b.2. Establishing and troubleshooting the telepractice connection; 15.3.b.3. Setting up therapy materials; 15.3.b.4. Positioning the client/patient at the direction of the Speech-Language Pathologist or Audiologist; 15.3.b.5. Remaining with the client/patient or student during sessions; 15.3.b.6. Assisting with behavior management, as needed; 15.3.b.7. Communicating with on-site staff or teachers about scheduling, and 15.3.b.8. In some instances serving as the interpreter.” Without a proper and thorough explanation, many people tend to think of the facilitator as someone who simply walks the students to and from therapy sessions. But we need the facilitator for much more than that. In addition to helping with scheduling and coordinating session times, your facilitator will need to have a good understanding of how to use the computer equipment. It helps tremendously to have someone who is already comfortable in front of a keyboard and monitor, but since the concept and role we are discussing are relatively new, there’s a chance that your facilitator will be someone who has agreed to take on the responsibilities, but is admittedly slow, awkward or downright fearful of the equipment on the table. Other tasks and responsibilities your facilitator will be responsible for may include:
establishing and troubleshooting the telepractice internet connection (with assistance from the clinician); obtaining and delivering IEP notifications, permission forms and other documents; organizing and dispensing materials used in therapy sessions; keeping you informed and updated on schedule changes, school closings, early dismissal days, school assemblies and any events that might disrupt your established schedule; maintaining an environment that is quiet, uninterrupted and appropriate for intervention activities; optimally positioning the students, and equipment such as cameras, microphones, speakers and monitors; serving as a liason or messenger to keep you in contact with classroom teachers, special education staff and parents who are on-site; managing and dispensing rewards, tokens or small prizes; escorting or observing student traffic to and from therapy sessions; distributing and collecting homework assignments, and printing documents used in therapy activities; alerting you to instances in which the web-conferencing malfunctions, and assisting students as needed during therapy activities. The demands and expectations at each school will vary by location, and the implementation of strategies and approaches will also vary among different facilitators. The best thing you can do at the onset or launch of your telepractice arrangement is to build an excellent level of rapport with your facilitator, and express your gratitude and willingness to help or support them in any way possible. Even though the facilitator is typically not a formal part of the IEP team, you want your facilitators to understand how important their role is in meeting the demands of an IEP. Provide the facilitator with your cell phone number and email address for work-related communication. Reference SIG 18 Perspectives in Telepractice, September 2013, Vol. 3, 44-48. doi:10.1044/teles3.2.44 Working With Facilitators to Provide School-Based Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice, Robin Alvares http://sig18perspectives.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=1863766 (link opens in new window)
