When you imagine speech therapy, you probably see a small table in a quiet room—but moving out of the therapy space and into the classroom has the power to change how students meet their goals. Push-in therapy is a classroom-based service delivery model where the speech-language pathologist provides skilled intervention directly within the student's natural learning environment. Before packing up your resources and heading down the hall, here are a few points to consider when deciding if this approach is right for your student:

1. Identify why your client might benefit from a push-in model.

Sometimes there are barriers to pulling children out of the classroom for speech therapy. A student might have additional needs, such as sensory dysregulation, or they may have an increased risk of elopement. Whatever the case, the first step in making this decision is asking yourself why this particular client could benefit from a push-in service delivery model.

2. Ask yourself what the challenges to pushing in might be.

Although pushing into the classroom for speech comes with many benefits, it can also be tricky to find a system that supports the client you serve without becoming a hindrance to other students learning in the room. Spend time collaborating with teachers and instructional assistants to explore the best ways to deliver speech therapy in their space.

3. Celebrate the wins!

Once you spend some time finding a rhythm and game plan that supports your clients' needs while delivering evidence-based push-in therapy, it is also important to recognize the different achievements you can observe in a naturalistic setting. This might look like having the opportunity to provide feedback and education to teachers and staff who are curious to learn, or even witnessing certain tools in action and seeing the carryover of speech and language targets in real time!

Push-in therapy can be a wonderful speech and language delivery model that gives clinicians the opportunity to collaborate with teachers and staff, honor individual clients' needs, and see meaningful progress happen right in the classroom setting!

-Hannah Collie M.S., CCC-SLP

When you imagine speech therapy, you probably see a small table in a quiet room—but moving out of the therapy space and into the classroom has the power to change how students meet their goals. Push-in therapy is a classroom-based service delivery model where the speech-language pathologist provides skilled intervention directly within the student's natural learning environment. Before packing up your resources and heading down the hall, here are a few points to consider when deciding if this approach is right for your student:

1. Identify why your client might benefit from a push-in model.

Sometimes there are barriers to pulling children out of the classroom for speech therapy. A student might have additional needs, such as sensory dysregulation, or they may have an increased risk of elopement. Whatever the case, the first step in making this decision is asking yourself why this particular client could benefit from a push-in service delivery model.

2. Ask yourself what the challenges to pushing in might be.

Although pushing into the classroom for speech comes with many benefits, it can also be tricky to find a system that supports the client you serve without becoming a hindrance to other students learning in the room. Spend time collaborating with teachers and instructional assistants to explore the best ways to deliver speech therapy in their space.

3. Celebrate the wins!

Once you spend some time finding a rhythm and game plan that supports your clients' needs while delivering evidence-based push-in therapy, it is also important to recognize the different achievements you can observe in a naturalistic setting. This might look like having the opportunity to provide feedback and education to teachers and staff who are curious to learn, or even witnessing certain tools in action and seeing the carryover of speech and language targets in real time!

Push-in therapy can be a wonderful speech and language delivery model that gives clinicians the opportunity to collaborate with teachers and staff, honor individual clients' needs, and see meaningful progress happen right in the classroom setting!

-Hannah Collie M.S., CCC-SLP