“Help! I want to support my children but I don’t know what to choose. Hanen? Traditional? What’s the difference?” Many parents have this overwhelming dilemma and don’t know what’s the best treatment for their kiddos. We here, at Joy & Laughter Developmental Therapy, are here to help make the decision easier!
We are always getting questions such as what is the Hanen program and how is it different from any other traditional speech therapy out there? What makes Hanen a much more successful program? We are here to answer all of your questions!
Hanen Who?
Hanen is therapy focused on parent education and training as related to the child’s development. Therapy is provided by the family under the direction of the SLP (Speech/Language pathologists). Typical speech therapy only focuses on treating the child, not the entire family. Some parent direction is given, but therapy is provided directly by the SLP.
This therapy is usually provided in a classroom or clinic room. Increased effort is needed to ensure generalization and maintenance. On the flip side, Hanen uses strategies and activities that occur in daily activities and routines such as cooking or bedtime to incorporate focus on maximizing natural communication of events.
Consistency! Consistency! Consistency!
Another major difference parents may have noticed is the consistency of our program. Hanen has a set course timeline of about 12 weeks called It Takes Two To Talk. It is in a shorter period but entails more intensive therapy of about 1.5-2.5 hours a week directly with SLP.
Parents will have the chance to take some classes on their own to help aid their child in their development as well as sessions together. Check out our post about It Takes Two To Talk and take a peek at our class curriculum!
Traditional Speech Therapy has more of a variable treatment frequency and duration. Most meet only once or twice a week and times can vary from 15 minutes to 1 hour. Depending on what your kiddo needs, this could make an enormous difference in their development!
More Family, Less Doctors
At JLD, our Hanen program is much more family-driven and has an environmental focus. Following our program allows more time for communication practice among family members as well as family contact with the child.
We are able to teach your child and you how to use their voice, follow directions and process what they are being told by people who are a part of their everyday life. This communication practice becomes a part of everyone’s daily activities instead of it being dedicated to ONLY “speech therapy time”.
One of the amazing things about Hanen is that it may be done in conjunction with traditional speech therapy to have a bigger effect on progress. When putting the two together, you can maximize your progress as well as home practice. Isn’t that an incredible feeling?
Our next session of It Takes Two to Talk begins in August. Join us and watch what this amazing program can do for your family! We are holding orientation sessions on August 3rd and August 10th.
