I Know Progress Is Happening. How Do I Show It?
3 Realizations That Changed How I Think About Data Collection in Child-Led Therapy
We have all experienced those golden moments in therapy sessions when everything just clicks. You are following the child’s lead; they are engaged and regulated, and you can clearly see progress happening in real time.
Then you pause to collect data or write a quick note… and suddenly the flow changes. You miss a moment, lose the connection, or stare at your data sheet and think:
"What do I even count? This doesn’t reflect what I actually saw. I feel like great things were happening, but I’m not sure how to show it."
If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Many SLPs and SLPAs are using child-led, naturalistic approaches while trying to fit meaningful, authentic progress into systems that don't always align with what we are seeing in our sessions.
In my course, Data Collection and Progress Monitoring for Child-Led Sessions, we explored many of these same challenges and discussed practical ways to write goals, monitor progress, and collect meaningful data in child-led sessions.
My own journey toward opportunity-based goals and rubrics started with a realization: I knew progress was happening, but I wasn't always able to show it. I started by reflecting on my sessions and how I collected data. But I soon realized it was more than finding a system that worked - it was about rethinking what progress looked like, what I wanted my data to capture, and how to tell the whole story of a child's growth and development.
Here are 3 realizations or aha moments that changed how I think about data collection in child-led therapy.
Realization #1: The data can compete with the approach
As I began reflecting on my own therapy sessions, I realized I was spending a lot of time focused on my data sheet, pen, and clipboard. I felt like I needed to capture every response, every trial, and every opportunity.
Over time, I noticed that my attention was often split between the child and the data. I sometimes missed meaningful moments of connection, engagement, and communication. I felt like I needed to create opportunities to write a score rather than follow what the child was interested in. The natural flow of the session was interrupted, making it difficult to regain that connection.
Then, after these sessions, I would look at my data and feel frustrated. The data often felt messy, sparse, or incomplete. I found myself asking: "What does this really tell me?" and "What am I actually trying to capture?"
The more I reflected, the more I realized that child-led therapy wasn't really about a certain number of trials or if a skill was "correct" or "incorrect." Some of the moments I was most excited about weren't showing up on my data sheet at all. Those were the moments I wanted my data to capture.
My own reflection and questions led me to these aha moments:
- My data sheet was competing with the very thing I was trying to build: engagement, connection, and authentic communication
- Some of the most meaningful moments in therapy don't fit neatly into percentages
- I didn't need more data. I needed a system that matched my therapy approach and captured the meaningful progress I was seeing every day.
Realization #2: I needed a way to capture the whole story
When I looked back on the sessions that felt most meaningful, I noticed something interesting. It wasn't about the tally marks or the percentages. It was about those golden moments of connection, engagement, and participation.
What made those moments possible mattered just as much as the skill itself: noticing an opportunity for interaction, a shared experience, a child needing less support than before, the right amount of wait time, co-regulation, or adjusting my approach and level of support in the moment.
That was the whole story.
It made me realize that I needed a system that could tell more than whether a skill occurred. I wanted to understand how skills were developing over time, what helped a child engage, connect, participate, and communicate, and how supports, strategies, and environments contributed to that growth.
Once I knew what I wanted to document, it became easier to rethink my goals and explore new data systems. This eventually led me to rubrics, which allowed me to capture the whole picture while remaining present in the interaction.
What I liked most about rubrics was that they helped me document the things I was already noticing during sessions:
- Skills demonstrated during natural interactions, routines, and meaningful activities
- Changes in independence and participation over time
- The type and level of support needed across different settings, activities, and communication partners
- The strategies, supports, and environments that helped a child be successful
Most importantly, they helped me tell the whole story. When our data systems match our therapy approach, sessions flow more naturally, documentation becomes easier, and the meaningful progress we see is easier to show.
#3: Progress became easier to see and share
Once I created a rubric that matched the clients I worked with and the way I provided therapy, progress became clearer and more meaningful.
Using rubrics not only allowed me to remain present during sessions and quickly document information afterward, but also helped me see progress in new ways.
I was able to identify:
- New opportunities and contexts that supported development
- Activities, environments, or situations where a child needed additional support
- Decreasing support needs over time
- Skills generalizing across activities, settings, and communication partners
- More independent and spontaneous use of skills
My biggest aha moment came when writing progress reports and meeting with families. A percentage change from one reporting period to the next didn't always tell a meaningful story. But when I began using opportunity-based goals and rubrics, I could share a much clearer picture of a child's growth.
I was able to show:
- Trends developing over time
- Strategies that were helping the child succeed
- Settings and activities that best supported emerging skills
- Meaningful growth across environments and communication partners
- Progress that reflected development, participation, and independence—not just performance during isolated opportunities
For the first time, I felt like I could truly share the whole story.
Questions to support your own reflection
Meaningful change often begins with reflection. Before changing goals, data systems, or documentation practices, it can be helpful to step back and think about what progress looks like in your own sessions and what information is most important to capture. As you reflect on your own sessions, consider:
- Does my current data system capture the most meaningful moments?
- Does my current data system show support, strategies, or environments that seem to help this child be most successful?
- If I looked only at my data, would I understand the whole story of this child's growth and progress?
For a deeper dive into data systems, practical strategies, examples of opportunity-based goals, rubrics, and progress-monitoring systems, explore the course, Data Collection and Progress Monitoring for Child-Led Sessions.
