As a pediatric SLP, you’re likely always looking for exciting ways to engage your clients and help them meet their goals. While themed therapy activities can be a fun and creative option, they aren’t always the best fit. Don’t worry— this doesn’t mean you are doing something bad! Instead, it’s about understanding when themes might serve your clients or yourself and finding the freedom to be more individualized and child-led. Consider these five reasons NOT to use themes in speech therapy and why this can be a positive change!
Reasons NOT to Use Themes in Speech Therapy
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1. Themes Are Not Always Child-Led
The most obvious reason to not use themes in speech therapy is because they are not usually child-led. When you stick rigidly to a theme, you might miss opportunities to tailor therapy to the child’s interests and needs.
For example, a summer “beach” theme might be super cute, but what if your client doesn’t like the beach at all? They may be passionate about space, dinosaurs, or their favorite television show instead and be much more likely to remain engaged in therapy if you use one of their interests to target speech and language goals instead.
How to Stay Child-Led
- Ask your clients and their caregivers what their interests are and adjust activities accordingly.
- Use open-ended materials like books and toys that your clients can relate to.
2. Themes May Not Fit Family Customs or Values
Themes can sometimes (unintentionally!) clash with the cultural, religious, or personal customs of a client and their family.
The easiest example of this is when you use holiday-themes activities, but you have clients who don’t celebrate certain occasions.
ASHA emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in therapy, encouraging SLPs to honor and respect each family’s unique background and beliefs.
How to Support Diversity
- Ask families about their preferences and beliefs. Most families will appreciate your efforts to be mindful and give helpful feedback about activities you can include or should avoid for their child.
- Choose universally inclusive themes like weather, space, or animals
- Choose neutral, child-centered activities like puzzles, board games, and STEM activities
By supporting diversity in these ways, you build positive rapport with families and foster stronger therapist-family relationships!
3. Themes Can Cause You to Overspend
The next reason to not use themes in speech therapy is the overwhelming cost that often comes with them. While themes are fun, constantly buying new materials can quickly add up and strain your budget.
Effective, engaging therapy sessions don’t have to come with a large price tag!
Cost-Friendly Alternatives
- Repurpose items you already have like play food items, flashcards, and one-player games.
- Find versatile materials that target many different goals.
- Use free or low-cost online resources to supplement therapy without overspending.
- Check with your school or district about any subscriptions they are paying for that you can utilize
4. Themes Don’t Always Align with Goals
The goal of speech therapy is to help students meet their individual goals in order to communicate and interact more efficiently with the world around them. While themes can sometimes support these goals, they can also distract from what’s really important.
For instance, a pirate theme might be really fun, but if you can only get a few opportunities to work on a child’s targeted goals, is it really worth it?
Staying Goal-Oriented
- Let therapy goals guide your choice of activities, not the other way around!
- Ensure that all activities have a clear purpose that ties back into your child’s individualized plan
5. Themes Can Put Pressure on You
Finally, themes can put unnecessary pressure on you as the clinician. Feeling like you need to come up with a new theme every week can quickly lead to SLP burnout! You might find yourself feeling overwhelmed and spending too much time planning activities instead of focusing your time on building your skills or targeting different goals.
Therapy doesn’t have to look IG-perfect to be effective!
Avoiding Pressure
- Remind yourself that the quality of your therapy matters so much more than a cutesy theme.
- Give yourself permission to take a break from themed activities if they’re stressful for you.
Finding Balance
Balance in your speech room will likely look like a mix between using themes and not using them.
Themes are not inherently bad. They can be fun, engaging, and educational if they have your client’s best interests, goals, and family values in mind. Like much of being an SLP, the key is flexibility!
If themes work for you and your clients, that’s great! If not, trust your instincts to adapt and individualize therapy.
Find Your Unique SLP Style
Every SLP has a unique approach to therapy, and that’s worth celebrating! The world would be such a boring place if we were all the same.
Whether you love using themes, prefer to always use a child-led approach, or find a blend that works best in your speech room, the important thing is that you’re meeting your clients where they are and helping them find independence and confidence as their communication skills grow.
Remember, therapy is about progress, not perfection. Remembering the reasons not to use themes in speech therapy can empower you to make sessions even more fun and effective for your clients and less stressful for you!
Be willing to adapt when needed, trust yourself, and keep being the amazing SLP that you are!
You may also be interested in reading:
Creating Systems: 3 Ways to Make Life Easier as an SLP
Miniature Objects vs. Picture Cards in Articulation Therapy
6 Advantages to Using Themes in Speech Therapy
