The Speech Source
Mary Brezik and Kim Dillon are two pediatric speech-language pathologists with over 25 years of combined experience. As speech therapists, we are often the first professionals to assess young children once they are referred by their pediatrician. Either they are not talking well or they are not eating well. We get to know our patients, their families, and how they are developing. We have a front row seat during the first critical and formative years of development for those who receive our services. Because of this, we have developed relationships with other professionals, observed what parent questions and concerns often arise, and see a need to share the resources and information we have compiled over the years. Join us as we dig into topics that show all of the overlapping aspects of child development and intervention. We invite you to be a part of our collaborative platform as we discuss, learn and grow for the betterment of our kids!
The Speech Source
Setting Up for Success Part 2: Media Release
In Part 2 of our Setting Up for Success series, Mary and Kim explore the importance of having a comprehensive and clearly defined photo and video release form in pediatric speech therapy practice. They emphasize that a simple yes/no checkbox on a consent form isn’t enough—parents need clarity about why media might be used and the specific ways their child’s images or videos could be shared. Providing this context not only helps parents make informed decisions, but also protects therapists legally and supports ethical, transparent practice.
Throughout the episode, Kim and Mary break down the many ways media is used in their sessions and businesses, including home programming (so families can carry over strategies at home), teacher trainings, educational course development, and marketing. Instead of asking for blanket permission, they recommend structuring release forms so parents can give selective consent for each type of media use.
Mary shares professional etiquette she follows when filming a child, like first explaining what the video is for and asking the child for permission—then showing them the clip afterward to model respectful media use. They also discuss boundaries with families, such as allowing video to be taken for personal educational use only—not for posting or distributing on social media.
They also acknowledge the positive impact media can have when used correctly—supporting patient progress, reinforcing therapy strategies, and helping families feel involved. However, they balance this with a conversation around privacy, online boundaries, and protecting children from misrepresentation or overexposure. Social media can be a wonderful tool, but it comes with risks, and thoughtful planning ensures everyone stays safe and informed.
This episode underscores how strong policies and clear communication can set your private practice up for success. Don't forget to download their free checklist of essential practice documents for anyone setting up or refining their private practice.
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Welcome to the Speech Source Podcast. My name is Mary Brzeek and I'm Kim Dillon.
Kim :We are two pediatric speech-language pathologists with a combined 25 years of experience.
Mary :We are your source for speech, language feeding, play and much more in between. Welcome back to the Speech Source Podcast, to our series all about policies and procedures. Today we are going to be talking about some of the forms that we use, specifically the photo and video release, our media release. This is a really important form that we have in place. We've had various experiences with media I know we all have that have been used really well, and then we've also had those experiences of all the ways that media can also be used and information shared online, and so we thought we would come together today and talk about first the purpose of having a media form and then what we feel is really important to include in it. So, kim, do you want to talk about why we even have our media form? How do you use media, meaning photo and video, in your sessions and in our business?
Kim :I think it's very important for parents, like you said, to understand why you would use photo and video, and so previously I had a form that just was like one checkbox of, yes, as a parent, I get permission to have my child's photo and or video recorded during a session, but like, why? Why are they checking that box yes and no? What could it be used for? And especially with social media now and all the different ways that we can use this media, it's really important to lay out all the different ways that this can be used. Some of the different ways that I would use specifically a video or a photo within my sessions is for home programming or homework. So we might have done something in the session and a child was able to get a specific skill based on my cueing or something along those lines, and so I'm going to video that, especially if the parents not in the session, and be able to send that home so that they're able to see how to work on things and do some practice that way. That would be how I would use a video for homework and home programming purposes.
Kim :We also have teacher trainings that we sometimes like to show examples of students for the teachers.
Kim :Some people also are creating online educational courses that people can purchase online, and you might want to use photos and or videos for training purposes there.
Kim :And then also there's marketing, and this can be on the website, social media, all those other different platforms that could be used for marketing, whether that be for your own private practice or a product that you have. So what I really tried to do is break up all of these sections so when a parent sees that video photo release, they can see all the different ways that their child's information might be used and decide yes or no based on each one, and I think that has been just really helpful in educating parents, instead of just yes or no, and they have no idea educating parents and then letting them make a choice on that. And then I've also added but anytime they can decide that they do not want their child's picture used any longer, and I would honor that. So that is all in a release form that I put together and I think that's been helpful in just protecting myself as a therapist and knowing that I broke all of this up and the parent was informed and they made a decision. That way, mary, how are you using these releases?
Mary :Yeah, I'm using it. In the same ways, I want to give credit to a friend of mine who is an attorney and this is not legal advice at all, but we were just chatting about this, actually, and we were talking about the importance of video use and photos of children, and this can get into a really tricky topic and it's such an important thing that we not only educate ourselves about how to use media, but really some parameters of how to use it professionally and appropriately with a child. So, to answer your question, Kim, like I use it in treatment absolutely all the time, there are a few different things that I've learned from her that I feel like are etiquette to use or take a video of a child that I have put into place. So the first thing that I do when I take a video or a photo is I inform the child and ask their consent. So I say that first off, I said, hey, we're going to send a picture, let's show your mom what we're doing. Is it okay if we take a video right now? And they're like, oh yeah, show off for the camera. So I ask for their consent. There, they're a minor, I get that it's not like consent, but still say, hey, is it okay that we take a video? Important part that this attorney friend told me is I always, after I turn it off, I turn my phone around and I show the child what it looks like immediately after and I say, see, this is what we just took of you, I'm going to send this to your mom or I'm going to send it to your dad or their caregiver that's taking them. And she said that that's just a really important point.
Mary :Etiquette wise with children is that if you have your picture taken of you, it's your right to be able to see what was just taken and be able to be aware and part of that process. So I think that is extremely important when we're talking about videoing or photoing children and just teaching them. Gosh, we're moms. Kim has four kids and I have three kids. It's so important that in the authority position we are, that we are modeling appropriate use of pictures and video for children.
Mary :So I think that's really important to put that etiquette in place with video. The other thing is that I even mention to teachers if I take a video or if someone else is around, I do in shared rooms. I'll even say in passing oh yeah, we've got consent for these videos. I might even mention that to them so that they know hey, I'm allowed to take video of this child. And the last thing I would say is that, especially if you're in a shared space, if you are in a classroom setting, if you're kind of working off to the side, no other people can be in those videos. So if you need to reposition yourself or if you need to really zoom in, it's not appropriate to have any other child in or adult anybody else in that video, because those other people did not consent to their photo being taken.
Kim :I love that you touched on the child giving you consent, even as a three-year-old or a five-year-old, because one of the things that we don't often think about is the long term, and that's why I feel like that piece in my release is important. About being able to change that decision is because maybe at five the parent didn't mind at all, but now that child's 18 or 19, because they do grow up and they don't want their video shown anymore, and so I think that's important for them to be able to make that choice later, to have it removed if they wanted to, now that they can make that own decision themselves legally. So I love that you touched on that, that it's important, even at a young age, for them to say, yeah, you can take my video, because even if mom or dad signed off, yes, and the child is no, for whatever reason, I think we need to honor that.
Mary :Yeah, it's something that I really hadn't thought about before. I had this conversation with that friend, but she was pointing out, like isn't this so weird that our kids are growing up where it's just normal for people to just be like taking pictures around them all the time you know of them, and just let's stop and think about this and help them have a good model of what appropriate use of video is? And then hopefully, I even tell the parents like, hey, watch this with your child, watch it together, watch it and show them. That's usually what it's for is to say, hey, look, we got our S today. We got those tight teeth and those teeth are together. That sound is perfect. Okay, I want you to watch it at home. It's going to help you get that good sound. And on the video I'll have a little bit longer clip because it'll have me saying okay, I want you to do a gentle bite Now, smile. Oh, keep those feet together. Okay, smooth sound. So I'm showing the parent, even if they're not there in the session, exactly how I achieved that sound, so that when they go home again, we're just always going back to patient progress and the patient experience. They feel empowered and like they've got all the tools to be able to do what they need to do to get progress at home, so that media release is a really big part of that.
Mary :Kim and I talk a lot on our episodes about our favorite EMR system, Simple Practice. We are a huge proponent of this system. We love all the features. It has really, really helped us grow our private practice, especially in creating our policies and procedures. So be sure to check out the show notes for our special discount code so that you can also see all the amazing things that simple practice can do to help your business grow.
Mary :Now we've talked a lot about the way that we use media, but we also have some rules about what is appropriate for parents' use of media. I do not allow any kind of video or photo to be taken of a child by a parent in my room. What I do allow is if they say, oh hey, can I video this for home, I'll say, oh, absolutely, here, can I have your phone and I'll take a video for you, and then they'll have that video so that I've controlled what it is. Now, of course, I can't control that video once it gets onto their phone, but I do have parameters too for that. So again, mine is pretty specific. Here's the photo video with it. You can use it for your own personal educational use, for home programming.
Mary :It is not to be put on social media. It is not to be distributed in any way. I, of course, can't control that, but I can just, again set the expectations that this is a tool. It's a tool that is tremendously successful if we use it the right way, but it also, again, has a lot of boundaries around it to keep everybody safe.
Mary :I know when everyone wants to post on social media and I totally get it they want to tag you and say, yay, this is what they're doing in speech therapy. Isn't this amazing? And on one hand, it's hey, I love that because of the stigma that sometimes therapy has. So I like that, the idea of promoting hard work towards something that doesn't come easy for everybody. However, as we all know, as quickly as someone can promote you, unfortunately, you don't want to set yourself up for a situation that could also be used to say the wrong thing or kind of misrepresent something, and so I just think it's really important to protect yourself and protect your patients and remember that media use is really powerful and having those forms in place beforehand just will help you, help set you up to where you're not in the position where now you have to react to something big that just happened.
Kim :These are all great things to think about. And again, mary, I think it goes back to these policies are important to have in place, but at the end of the day, communication is key. So just understanding why we're taking photo, why we're taking video and having that conversation with our parents Video photo took a long time, so we're going to end that one here, because we have some other forms and waivers that we feel like are very important, so we will have forms and waivers too. As we record this mini series on policies and procedures, mary and I have put together a list of everything that we feel is important in starting a private practice all of the policies, the procedures, the paperwork that we use and that is available in our podcast notes. Just click on the link and you can download this list for yourself. Hopefully it's helpful in starting your own practice. Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast and check out our website, thespeechsourcecom.
Mary :Also check us out on Instagram for more ideas on speech, language, feeding and play.
