Discovering Surprising Insights: Four Things I Learned Recording Animal-Assisted Speech Therapy Sessions
“Did you know Taylor Swift’s middle name is Allison?”
The thirteen-year-old girl and long-time client beamed with pride sharing this fun fact, while I simultaneously smiled outwardly and groaned inwardly.
I had been trying for ten minutes to get her to start reading a passage about Totem Poles. As part of a generalization activity for improving her articulation we’d already highlighted the words containing /l/ together,
And in that 10 minutes I’d learned about 50 random facts that had nothing to do with speech. Or totem poles.
“Hey, Allison has our ‘tongue up l’ sound in it. Let me hear you say it again,” I tried, but she was already distractedly moving on to describing the latest gymnastics move she had learned.
I had set this session to record on my phone to capture speech therapy dog Delta’s affiliative behaviors, supporting clients through her physical presence. However, at the end of our 40 minute session, in which very few /l/ word were actually correctly articulated, we watched a bit of the video back together and I was surprised at what I saw…
Therapy dog Delta waits patiently to be needed. Recording sessions has allowed me to see all the challenges she faces in a typical day of animal-assisted speech therapy.
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How a Speech Therapy Dog Helps Both Client and Clinician
Yes, Delta had worked her magic keeping this often anxious and avoidant teen calm by returning to her side repeatedly and lying her head gently in the girl’s lap.
But I had also reached out to touch Delta almost as often as the girl had.
During this particularly distracted and challenging session, it was obvious my therapy dog was supporting me as much as my client. By petting Delta I was better able to keep my frustration in check and mentally problem-solve ways to redirect the conversation to target the day’s goal.
To see a clip of Delta in this dual role, click here.
Wiggly Kids and Animal-Assisted Therapy
Delta gives a little stress signal (tongue flick) when her foot is accidentally bumped during an animal-assisted speech therapy session. As an experienced therapy dog she handles these moments with ease, but I still have to remain vigilant.
As I continued to record more sessions to capture the effects of animal-assisted therapy, I also noticed how much my dogs deal with that I had not been consciously aware of:
All the wiggly little movements kids make while snuggling with a speech therapy dog.
Toes curled under her belly, twitching fingers on her back, sudden silly faces directed right at Delta. Though I thought I was monitoring closely, while watching clips from sessions with my younger clients I realized more than ever the level of tolerance my therapy dog demonstrates day after day as I juggle my attention between her, the kids, and the therapy materials.
While I’m now more proactive on teaching and reinforcing appropriate petting and greeting behaviors because of these observations, I’m also highly aware of how important a tolerant temperament is for a potential speech therapy dog.
I’m also more vigilant in looking for these less-than-pleasant moments to teach dog etiquette and/or a more appropriate sensory regulation tactic to keep my therapy dog’s welfare as high as possible and keep her enjoying the work.
While a degree of tolerance is needed, true enjoyment is what we really seek for our amazing therapy animal partners!
The poor timing of my reinforcement for the therapy dog’s helpful actions.
As a new speech therapy dog, Sky struggled to master “shake”, partly because I found it difficult to reinforce her promptly while also coaching a child through giving the command.
It’s hard to focus on shaping and rewarding a child’s attempts at a targeted skills while also doing the same for my speech therapy dog.
Delta often gets tossed a treat, petted, or praised many seconds too late for ideal operant conditioning, which explains why I need frequent short training sessions to review certain skills with her when the kids aren’t present.
I hope that as my clinical skills and therapy dog handling skills continue to improve I’ll be more able to juggle the demands of client and dog, but in reality I know it’s just a difficult balance. (See my favorite resources on dog training)
The mixed messages my therapy dog gets from kids
My more impulsive clients especially tend to ask Delta for a trick and then move on before she’s finished responding. Some like to call her toward them and then dash away. Despite this, my very patient speech therapy dog continually tries to stay attentive to the kids’ needs.
(see more about supporting your therapy dog when a client has approach-avoidant behaviors)
When her attempts are cut short by a client’s actions, I try to respond with a
gentle touch
eye contact, or
quick praise
as well as rewarding her between sessions with special treats and the most comfortable, engaging work environment I can manage (for ideas, see Speech Therapy Dog Supplies). But I also realize how special a successful therapy dog’s temperament really is to handle all this confusion.
Delta gets a supportive hand during an animal-assisted speech therapy session while a preschooler looks on excitedly.
I started capturing sessions on video to share the effects animal-assisted speech therapy has on my clients, but ultimately I ended up learning just as much about the effects it has on myself and my therapy dog!
If you are partnering with a therapy dog, I’d highly encourage you to record a few willing clients as you work together and see what you discover.
To see more clips of Delta in action, check out the the Speech Dogs YouTube channel.
If you are looking for help getting started, check out the book Paws for Progress: Integrating Animal-Assisted Interventions Into Your Speech-Language Pathology Practice (ASHA Press, 2024) or the in-depth course Talk to the Paw: Foundations of Therapy Animal Inclusion in a Professional Setting!
May your days be filled with puppy wiggles and children’s giggles,
Sharlet
