How It Works

How Online Speech Therapy Works

Online speech therapy works like speech therapy in a clinic room, except the speech pathologist joins your child by video call and your child stays at home. Every family starts with an assessment by video, then therapy sessions follow with Dr Lauren Crumlish (PhD), Certified Practising Speech Pathologist, who is the same clinician every time.

Walk through the steps

Dr Lauren Crumlish, in a navy spotted top, smiles at the camera in a bright room with hexagon shelves of soft toys behind her, framed as if on a video call.

Before The First Session

What Happens Before The First Session?

The path to a first online session has four steps, and the first cost is the assessment, not a session.

Apply

You tell us about your child in the application form. Our team will review your application. Dr Lauren works with a small number of families and has limited availability, so a place cannot be guaranteed, and not every application receives an individual reply.
The assessment, by video

If a place is offered, the first online consultation is the assessment: Dr Lauren assesses your child over video. The Short Assessment is $590, the Mid-Length $890 and the Long $1,290, depending on what needs to be looked at.
What an online assessment involves
The plan

Dr Lauren talks you through what she found, the goals she recommends and how often she suggests sessions run.
Fees for online speech therapy
Sessions begin

Each session is $193, which is one hour of service: 45 minutes of therapy by video, and 15 minutes of preparation and notes. Before the first one, check your device and room.
What you need at home for a session

Inside One Session

What Happens In A 45 Minute Online Session?

An online speech therapy session with Dr Lauren is 45 minutes of therapy on the video call, led by her from start to finish. A typical session moves through five parts, though the balance changes with the child and the goal. The other 15 minutes of the hour go on preparing your child's materials beforehand and writing the session notes afterwards, which is how progress is tracked from one session to the next.

Check in

Picture and sound are checked first: can Dr Lauren see your child's face clearly and hear them without echo? A few minutes spent here protect the rest of the session.
A look back

Dr Lauren checks how practice has gone and hears your child try the skill, which tells her whether to move on or stay.
The main work

Most of the session is the therapy itself. Dr Lauren shares pictures, games, books or written work on screen, models the target, listens, gives feedback and adjusts the task as your child responds.
Setting the practice

Dr Lauren demonstrates the practice to do before the next session. With younger children she watches you try it and coaches you on the spot; a teenager takes the practice on directly.
The close

She sums up what changed and what comes next.

How is an online session different for a toddler, a school-age child and a teenager?

An online speech therapy session for a toddler, a school-age child and a teenager differs most in one respect: who sits in front of the camera, and who Dr Lauren works with directly.

Age	Who is on camera	What Dr Lauren does	What the parent does
A 3 year old	Parent and child together, often on the floor	Watches the play, models what to say and coaches the parent in real time	Plays with the child using the strategies Dr Lauren shows, and practises them through the week
An 8 year old	The child at the screen	Works with the child directly on the session's tasks	Close by to help with the screen, and shown the practice to do before the next session
A 15 year old	The teenager on their own	Works with the teenager directly, as with an adult	Usually not in the room; hears the plan and the practice as agreed with the teenager

For toddlers, the work is play and the parent is the person the child talks with most, so coaching the parent is the therapy's engine. Dr Lauren still leads it: she sets the goals, chooses the strategies and decides when to move on. Online speech therapy for toddlers and late talkers explains that model, and online speech therapy for teenagers covers working alone with an older child. Between the two, a school-age child works with Dr Lauren directly on the screen, as the section on school-age children in what Dr Lauren works on online describes.

What can Dr Lauren see and hear by video?

A video call shows a speech pathologist most of what she needs: your child's words, sentences, understanding, reading aloud and writing held up to the camera. The face and mouth are visible too, when the camera is close and the light is in front. Speech Pathology Australia's position statement on telepractice supports it where the outcomes are at least equivalent to standard care, and expects the decision to be made child by child.

Some things are harder on a screen:

Fine sound detail. A poor microphone or a compressed connection can blur sounds such as "s" and "th". ASHA's telepractice guidance asks for equipment that carries sound and picture accurately, which is why a headset or a quiet room matters for speech sound work.
Mouth and tongue position. It is visible only when the child's face fills enough of the screen and is lit from the front.
Hands-on prompts. A speech pathologist online cannot touch a child's jaw or lips to guide a sound. Where a goal needs that, it is a reason to consider in-person help, which is online speech therapy right for my child? sets out.

Speech pathologists working online cover these gaps with closer camera framing, asking a child to repeat a word slowly, and the parent describing or showing what they see. The technology and set-up page shows how to frame the camera so the mouth is visible.

A smiling woman sits beside a young boy at a white table as he spells his name with red and blue wooden letters.

Between Sessions

What Does The Family Do Between Sessions?

Between sessions, the family's part is short, guided practice that Dr Lauren has shown step by step. A child talks for many hours a week outside the session, so the right practice carries the work into ordinary life. It supports the therapy rather than replacing it, and the guide to home practice between online sessions shows how to fit it into a busy week.

A few minutes of practice on most days, shown step by step
Woven into ordinary moments: at the table, in the car, at bedtime
Checked by Dr Lauren at the next session and changed when it is too easy or too hard

How long does speech therapy take, and how often are sessions?

How long speech therapy takes depends on the difficulty, the goal and how a child responds, so no honest answer can be given before an assessment. Dr Lauren recommends how often sessions should run once she has assessed your child. As therapy goes on she reviews progress against the goals, and decides with you when a goal is met and when to stop.

Practical details

Practical details such as session times, missed sessions and time away are the questions families ask before starting, and several are agreed with each family at the point a place is offered.

Days and times. Session times are arranged with each family when a place is offered. The application form asks which times could suit you.
Missed or cancelled sessions. The terms for a missed or cancelled session are explained before any session is booked.
When Dr Lauren is away. Dr Lauren is the only clinician at Online Speech Therapy, so no other therapist steps in. How sessions are arranged around her time away is explained before therapy starts.
Brothers and sisters. If more than one child in your family needs help, send a separate application for each child.
If online does not suit. If video is not working for your child after starting, raise it at the next session. The suitability guide sets out the situations where in-person help is the better choice.

What happens if the internet drops?

If the video freezes or drops during an online session, close the call and rejoin from the same link; pausing other devices on your connection often fixes a struggling call. Telepractice guidance from ASHA asks speech pathologists to have a backup plan for connection failures and to reschedule when a connection makes good therapy impossible. How a session lost to the connection is handled is part of the terms explained before therapy starts. Families on satellite or mobile data will find practical advice on speech therapy for rural, remote and travelling families .

A child who will not stay at the screen is a different problem from a bad connection, and the guide will my child sit still for online speech therapy? answers it in full. Other questions parents ask before choosing online therapy are answered in the guides for parents.

Does online speech therapy work as well as in person?

Speech Pathology Australia supports online therapy where its outcomes are at least equivalent to standard care, and the research behind that is stronger for some ages and difficulties than for others. Does online speech therapy work? sets out the studies by condition and age, with their limits.

A laughing girl with plaited hair holds up a word card at a table covered in printed word cards.

Questions

Questions About How Online Speech Therapy Works

Do I need to be in the room during my child's session?

Whether a parent is in the room depends on the child's age. A parent takes part in every session with a toddler, is close by for most school-age children, and is usually not in the room with a teenager. Dr Lauren agrees the parent's part with each family.

Is online speech therapy done over Zoom?

Online Speech Therapy sessions run on a private video link. What matters more than the platform is a working camera, microphone and connection, which the technology and set-up page helps you check.

What does an online speech therapy session cost?

Each session is $193, which is one hour of service: 45 minutes of therapy by video, and 15 minutes of preparation and notes. Every family starts with an initial assessment at $590, $890 or $1,290. The fees page explains each fee and Medicare rebates.

Can online speech therapy work for a child who is shy on camera?

Online speech therapy can work for a shy child. Being at home, with their own things around them, suits some shy children, and others take a few sessions to warm up. Dr Lauren adapts the tasks to keep a child talking, and the guide to keeping children engaged on a screen covers what helps.