Speech Language Therapy vs. Tutoring: What’s the Difference?

An estimated 1 in 12 children in America has a disorder related to vocalization, speech, and other related tasks. If your child is one of them, what can you do to help?

Speech language therapy is one service available to children with speech or language-related disorders. Tutoring is a useful tool for many students, but it may not be the right one for a child who needs a  therapeutic approach.

What is the difference between speech language therapy and tutoring? How can you determine which student resources are right for your child?

Read on to learn more about the differences between speech language therapy and tutoring.

What Is Speech Language Therapy?

As a child develops, they learn language through observation. The methods of communication that they acquire become more advanced, allowing them to, for example, create complete sentences or tell a linear story. Some children, however, struggle with these concepts and quickly fall behind.

Speech language therapy helps children to master a wide variety of communication skills. Your child may need speech language therapy if they:

• struggle to find the right words when speaking or writing
• struggle to communicate a thought, need, or story 
• struggle to follow multi-step directions
• have difficulty with vocalizing or pronunciation, ie speaking too soft or loud, speaking with a lisp, or speaking with a stutter

Learn more about these services to find out if they could benefit your child. Communication skills are crucial in school, socialization, and beyond. Getting your child they help they need can make a huge difference to their overall well-being. 

What Is Tutoring?

Tutoring may go hand-in-hand with speech language therapy, but they can’t replace speech language therapy. Student tutoring involves reteaching a certain type of curriculum to a student who is falling behind. For example, if your child is doing well in most subjects but struggling in math, they may need a math tutor.

What if your child has no problem articulating themselves verbally but struggles to write, spell, and read? Do they need a speech language therapist? Chances are, they need a reading and writing tutor if their verbal skills are strong.

Is it helpful to enroll your child in tutoring before finding them a speech language therapist? It depends on what they need a speech language therapist for. If your child struggles to communicate and understand what is said to them, tutoring with no additional services may not be of much help.

Select the Right Student Resources to Help Your Child Thrive

When your child starts to fall behind, it’s not always easy to assess what the next step should be. When they show signs of delayed communication skills, it’s time to learn more about speech language therapy. Tutoring is a useful tool, but it can’t take the place of speech language therapy.

Looking for more helpful guides and information? Take a look around as we answer some of your most pressing questions.