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Speech Therapy SOAP Note Template
A speech therapy SOAP note records one session: what the patient or family reported, the data you took on each goal, what it shows, and what comes next. Copy the free template, see a preschool articulation and an adult aphasia example, and check what goes in each section.
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- Word and text downloads
- Two filled examples
Blank speech therapy SOAP note template
FreeSPEECH THERAPY SOAP NOTE Patient: [Name] Date of birth: [Date] Date of session: [Date] Session: [Number in the current plan of care; length in minutes; in person or teletherapy] Diagnosis: [Speech, language, voice, fluency, or swallowing diagnosis being treated] Present: [Patient, parent or caregiver, interpreter, others] Clinician: [Name, credentials] SUBJECTIVE Report: [What the patient, family, or teacher has noticed since the last session, in their words] Home practice: [What was practiced, how often, and any difficulty] Changes: [Illness, fatigue, hearing, medication, or schedule changes, or none] OBJECTIVE Behavior and participation: [Alertness, attention, cooperation, breaks or reinforcement needed] Goal 1: [Target and level, correct out of total trials, percent accuracy, cue level and type] Goal 2: [Target and level, correct out of total trials, percent accuracy, cue level and type] Goal 3: [Target and level, correct out of total trials, percent accuracy, cue level and type] Skilled interventions: [Techniques used, cueing hierarchy, and how cues were faded] Caregiver training: [What was taught, and how well the caregiver demonstrated it back] ASSESSMENT Progress: [Each goal against baseline and recent sessions: met, progressing, emerging, or not progressing] Response to cues: [Which cues helped, and how much support is still needed] Barriers: [Attention, fatigue, hearing, attendance, or carryover limits, or none] Skilled need: [Why the patient still needs a speech-language pathologist's skills] PLAN Next session: [Targets, level, and cue fading planned] Home program: [Activities, how often, and who will help] Frequency: [Sessions per week, session length, and what remains of the plan of care] Goal changes: [Goals met, revised, or added, or none] Coordination: [Teacher, physician, audiologist, or other contacts, and re-evaluation date] Signed: [Clinician name, credentials, date and time]
Use it for
- Outpatient speech therapy
- School-based sessions
- Pediatric clinics
- Adult neuro rehab
- Teletherapy sessions
Two filled examples. Every part, filled in.
Each one follows the template. Use them to judge how much detail every part needs.
Speech therapy SOAP note: speech sound disorder
Outpatient pediatric clinic, 30-minute session, parent present
Subjective
4-year-old boy with a speech sound disorder: /k/ and /g/ replaced with /t/ and /d/. Session 8 of 24. His mother says he now says “cup” and “cookie” correctly at home when reminded, and his preschool teacher asks him to repeat himself less often. Practiced the word cards 4 of 7 days, about 5 minutes a day. No illness or ear infections since the last session. Hearing screen passed at the evaluation.
Objective
Engaged with a card game throughout; needed 2 short movement breaks. Goal 1, /k/ at the start of single words: 17/20, 85%, minimal cues, a hand signal for the “back sound.” Goal 2, /k/ at the end of single words: 12/20, 60%, moderate cues: model plus a tongue depressor to hold the tongue tip down. Goal 3, /g/ at the start of syllables: 10/20, 50%, maximal cues: model, mirror, and phonetic placement. Skilled interventions: phonetic placement, minimal pairs such as “tea” and “key,” and auditory bombardment; for Goal 1, the tactile cue was faded to the hand signal. Caregiver training: taught his mother the hand signal, and to praise correct tries without asking for many repeats; she cued 5 words correctly.
Assessment
Goal 1 progressing: 85% with minimal cues, up from 60% with moderate cues 3 sessions ago; first of 3 sessions needed at the 80% criterion. Goal 2 emerging with moderate cues. Goal 3: stimulable in syllables with maximal cues. Responds best to the visual hand signal; still needs the tactile cue for /k/ at the end of words. Good attendance and home practice are helping. Skilled therapy still needed to establish final /k/ and /g/, and to carry correct sounds into phrases.
Plan
Continue twice weekly, 30 minutes; 16 sessions remain. Next session: Goal 1 at word level, aiming for a second session at 80% or more, then phrases once met for 3 sessions. Goal 2: fade the tongue depressor to the hand signal. Goal 3: move from syllables to single words once at 80% in syllables. Home program: 10 word cards with /k/ at the start, once a day, with his mother using the hand signal. Home word list shared with his preschool teacher, with his mother’s consent. Goal review at session 12.
Speech therapy SOAP note: aphasia after stroke
Outpatient neuro rehabilitation, 45-minute session, wife present
Subjective
67-year-old man, 7 weeks after a left hemisphere ischemic stroke, with nonfluent aphasia. Session 10 of 16. His wife reports more single words at home and fewer “stuck” moments when he is rested, but he gets frustrated on the phone. Uses the naming app about 20 minutes most days. No new weakness, vision changes, or change in speech since the last session.
Objective
Alert and motivated; more errors in the last 10 minutes as he tired. Goal 1, naming everyday objects in pictures: 14/20, 70%, with semantic feature analysis and moderate cues; 8/20, 40%, independently. Semantic paraphasias, such as “fork” for “spoon,” in 4 of 20 trials, 2 self-corrected. Goal 2, 3- to 4-word phrases to request items in role-play: 6/10 with minimal phonemic cues. Goal 3, following 2-step spoken directions: 9/10, independent. Skilled interventions: semantic feature analysis; a phonemic cueing hierarchy, from first sound to word completion; script practice for a short phone call to book an appointment. Caregiver training: taught his wife to wait 5 seconds, then give the first sound; she did it correctly in 4 of 5 exchanges.
Assessment
Steady gains in naming: 70% with cues, up from 45% at the evaluation; responds best to first-sound cues. Requests in phrases emerging. Goal 3 met for the third session in a row. Fatigue lowers accuracy late in the session. Skilled therapy is still needed to advance the cueing hierarchy, train his main communication partner, and carry gains into conversation and phone calls.
Plan
Continue twice weekly, 45 minutes, with a short break at 25 minutes; 6 sessions remain. Goal 3 met: replace it with answering questions about short voicemail messages, 80% accuracy with minimal cues. Next session: naming verbs in short sentences, and the phone script with his wife as the partner. Home program: naming app 20 minutes a day, and the phone script with his wife 3 times a week. Reviewed stroke warning signs: his wife knows to call 911 for sudden weakness, facial droop, or a new change in speech. Re-evaluation with the same aphasia battery at session 16.
What goes in each part.
Subjective
What the patient, family, caregiver, or teacher tells you: changes since the last session, home practice, and anything that could affect today’s performance.
- What others have noticed in daily communication, in their words
- Home practice: what, how often, and any trouble
- Illness, fatigue, hearing, or medication changes
- New concerns, such as coughing at meals or a change in voice
Avoid: A single line such as “Patient was cooperative.” Note what the family or teacher has seen outside the therapy room.
Objective
The data you took on each goal, in a form another clinician could repeat: the target, the level, the trials, the accuracy, and the support given.
- Correct out of total trials, with the percent: 16/20, 80%
- Cue level: independent, minimal, moderate, or maximal
- Cue type: visual, verbal, tactile, model, phonemic, or semantic
- Behavior and participation that affected the data
- Caregiver training, and the caregiver’s return demonstration
Avoid: A percentage on its own. “80%” means little until the reader knows it was 16 of 20 single words with minimal cues.
Assessment
What the numbers mean: progress on each goal against baseline, what helped, and why skilled therapy is still needed.
- Status of each goal: met, progressing, emerging, or not progressing
- Comparison with baseline and the last few sessions
- The cues that worked, and the ones you can fade
- Barriers to progress or carryover
- Why the patient needs a speech-language pathologist, not only practice
Avoid: Restating the Objective data. Say what it shows, such as “ready to move from words to phrases.”
Plan
What changes next session, what happens at home, and when the plan of care will be reviewed.
- Next-session targets, level, and cue fading
- Home program, and who will support it
- Frequency, session length, and duration
- Goal changes, referrals, and the re-evaluation date
Avoid: “Continue plan of care” with nothing else. Name what will be different next time.
Common mistakes, and how to avoid them.
Accuracy without trials or cues
A percent alone can’t show progress. Write the trials, the accuracy, and the cue level and type for every goal, every session.
Cue levels nobody has defined
“Moderate cues” means different things to different clinicians. Use your team’s definitions and name the cue type, so the next clinician can give the same support.
Games instead of skilled interventions
“Played Go Fish” describes the activity, not the therapy. Name the technique, such as phonetic placement, minimal pairs, or semantic feature analysis, and how you faded support.
Leaving out caregiver training
Carryover happens at home and at school. Record what you taught the parent or partner, and whether they could do it back.
Goals that never change
If a goal has stalled for several sessions, say why in the Assessment, and change the approach, the level, or the goal.
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Frequently asked questions.
What should a speech therapy SOAP note include?
What the patient or family reported, the data on each goal with trials, accuracy, and cue levels, your assessment of progress and the need for skilled therapy, and the plan for the next session and home practice.
How do you document cueing levels in speech therapy?
Write the level and the type with the data, for example: “/k/ at the start of words, 16/20, 80%, minimal visual cues.” Use your team’s definitions of minimal, moderate, and maximal, so the levels mean the same thing from one clinician to the next.
Does behavior go in Subjective or Objective in an SLP SOAP note?
Many SLPs note alertness and cooperation in Subjective. This template puts them in Objective, since they are what you observed. Either works if your team is consistent.
Can I use this template for teletherapy sessions?
Yes. Note that the session was by video, who was present to help, how cues were given on screen, and any connection problems that could have affected the data.
Is this speech therapy SOAP note template free?
Yes. Copy it, or download it as a Word or text file. No account needed.
More speech-language pathology templates, and guides.
SOAP note template
The four-part note for most visits, with acute, musculoskeletal, and telehealth examples.
Speech-language evaluation report template
Full SLP evaluation: history, hearing, oral mechanism, tests, impressions, and goals.
SLP documentation examples
More SLP notes, with trial data and cueing, and how Vero drafts them.
Vero for speech therapy
Evaluations and session notes, with goals and response kept together.
How to write a SOAP note
The general guide, with a checklist and the most common mistakes.
Common speech pathology codes
The diagnosis codes speech-language pathologists use most.
Your template. Filled in from the visit.
Vero writes your notes and letters in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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