Levels of Telepractice Used By Speech-Language Pathologists Before & During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract This study compared the different services and types of disorders Oklahoma and Texas K-12 SLP’s provided through teletherapy as compared to face-to-face therapy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Google forms survey was available to SLPs from June through October, 2021, assessing three age groups of children: elementary (5-10 years), middle school (11-13 years), and high school (14-18 years). Questions included types of serviced provided and disorders treated. There was a decrease in the services of Screening, Assessment, and Follow-up offered through teletherapy as compared to face-to-face for all three age groups. However, there was a decrease in treatment of disorders with elementary and middle school students while no change or an increase in treatment was observed in treatment in high school students. This study concludes that services and treatment decrease for younger aged students while most treatment remained the same for older students. KeyWords: Telepractice/Teletherapy, COVID-19, Oklahoma & Texas K-12 schools, Services & Treatments