EDUCATIONAL THERAPY
Building Confidence & Competence
WHAT IS EDUCATIONAL THERAPY?
Educational therapy is defined as “intensive individualized intervention for students with learning challenges that may be a result of neurological, cognitive, developmental, language, and emotional issues.”
—The Association of Educational Therapists
What Is the Purpose of Educational Therapy?
Those who struggle to learn often feel frustrated and isolated with little hope of ever overcoming the challenges they face. People with learning disabilities have average to superior intelligence. Many, such as Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Henry Winkler, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, Jim Carrey, and Leonardo DaVinci, are gifted with tremendous strengths. Exceptional accomplishment may be offset by a weakness or inefficiency in brain function that impacts the ability to learn or to function in life. Educational therapy addresses the underlying causes of learning difficulties that develop processing skills, academics, and cognitive abilities. Students become independent lifelong learners.
Would My Child Benefit From Educational Therapy?
Learning difficulties involve a weakness in the foundational understanding and thinking skills that allow us to operate in life. If you or someone else has noticed any of the following characteristics in your child, you may want to consider educational therapy services:
Difficulty with language expression or comprehension
Difficulty with concentration or paying attention
Loss of self-esteem related to learning
Resistance to schoolwork or attendance
Lack of progress at school or questionable ability to learn or gain knowledge at school. Excessive time or parent support needed to complete homework
Struggles with schoolwork as assignments become more challenging
Is your child already receiving additional intervention services in the school setting? You may want to pursue educational therapy services if you feel that your child needs the explicit and intentional mediated learning beyond what the school or a tutor offers.
What to Expect With Educational Therapy
Lisa partners with schools, parents, and other professionals as part of the child’s support team. Often receiving referrals from educators, medical professionals, and counselors, Lisa consults with the parent to determine if educational therapy is the appropriate intervention for the child’s specific needs.
She also ensures that parents’ expectations, commitment, and partnership, are consistent with what educational therapy will entail.
As determined by psycho-educational tests, as well as a series of informal assessments, Lisa will design an individualized program of intense intervention using a variety of scientific, evidence-based, targeted techniques to meet short-term and long-term goals. Students learn how to learn. Students who have completed educational therapy demonstrate remarkable success. They become successful learners throughout their school years and expand their career opportunities and ability to have a positive impact on society and future generations.
How Does Educational Therapy Differ From Classroom Instruction and Tutoring?
A variety of choices exist when it comes to helping your child make progress in learning. Below is a side-by-side comparison of how educational therapy compares to classroom instruction and tutoring.
Educational Therapy
Addresses underlying causes of learning difficulties
Therapist has extensive experience and training working with children with thinking and learning differences
Retrains the brain, equipping the child to be a competent and confident learner for a lifetime
Classroom Education
Variety of subjects taught
Teacher may have limited experience, time or resources to help children with thinking and learning differences
Teacher is typically involved in the child’s life for one year and teaches information for that year
Tutoring
Focus is on providing homework assistance in a specific subject matter
Tutor may have limited experience helping children who have thinking and learning differences
Tutoring helps make advances in one specific subject area for current level being targeted
Foundational Learning Skills
Your child’s underlying perceptual and cognitive skills provide the foundation for academic learning. If any of these areas are weak or vulnerable, your child’s learning skills will be affected:
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Visual/Motor Coordination
Visual motor integration allows a child to use his hands and eyes in a coordinated way to perform vital learning tasks, such as copying words and numbers, writing, cutting and more.
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Auditory Memory
Auditory memory is the ability to receive orally presented information, process and store that information in the brain, then recall the information when it is needed. It involves attention, listening, processing, storing and recalling.
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Abstract/Logical Thinking
Abstract thinking is the ability to think about ideas that do not have a concrete or physical component. While they are real, these ideas and principles are often symbolic or hypothetical. This complex form of thinking goes beyond memorizing or simply recalling information and facts.
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Visual/Auditory Processing
Visual perception refers to information that is taken in through the eyes while auditory perception refers to information that is perceived through sound. These types of processing are different from problems with sight or simply hearing.
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Emotions
If a child is anxious, frustrated or bored, this can impact their ability to complete homework, tests, or to meet deadlines. If a child has a negative emotional association with a subject matter, this may limit the child’s ability to learn or remember the material.
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Attention
Good attention skills are crucial for the learning process. A child must first successfully attend to information in order to learn the subject matter. Strong attention skills help a child plan their work, self-monitor their thoughts and actions, and complete tasks.
TESTIMONIAL
“Unfortunately, the school couldn’t fill our son’s learning gap, even with an Independent Learning Plan. The Vice Principal suggested Orton-Gillingham and NILD instruction as an outside resource which led us to Lisa. Our son has been turned onto learning in a way that has built his confidence since working with Mrs. Lisa.”
