3 Ways To Make The Most Of Therapy Time

3 Ways To Make The Most Of Therapy Time

You may not be surprised to hear that services for children with disabilities are stretched...to say the least! 

Parents and teachers are crying out for support, and direct therapist intervention is scarce. 
But you can do something to maximise the benefits of the time available with professionals, and I will tell you how in today’s blog. 

Whether receiving intervention through public services or paying privately for therapy sessions, you want to make the most of your one-to-one time with professionals. 

Schools may also receive visits from professionals. Some of these visits focus on providing advice; in other cases, professionals might interact directly with the child in the preschool or school. 

My tips today can help you whether you are a parent or a teacher, as in both cases, you want to be more equipped to help children after each appointment.

Tip 1. Be present and observe what the professional is doing.  

Waiting in the waiting room without being able to see and learn from experts is not the best use of your time. Professionals should be able to model interventions and strategies for you to continue implementing them at home or in the classroom. 

Furthermore, if you are in the room during therapy sessions, your child will most likely feel safer and more confident and cooperate more. 

In very few cases, especially with older children, I have done sessions with the child while the parents are outside. That was generally with families I had worked with for many years, and parents were already familiar with the interventions I implemented. Still, in those cases, I dedicated time at the end of each session to talk to parents to explain what we were doing during the intervention sessions. 

But, as a general rule, ask to be present and involved during intervention sessions.

Tip 2. Be clear on why the therapist is doing certain play activities.

You might be surprised to see some of the activities therapists do, particularly if your child is young and receiving early intervention. Some of these activities might look like just typical play.

The therapist might be blowing bubbles, singing twinkle-twinkle little star, or playing with miniature farm animals. Are those activities specialised early-intervention-therapies? Well, they may be. 

The professional you are working with has picked those activities for specific reasons, and she is working on targeted goals. She is looking at your child’s development, promoting communication skills, assessing your child’s fine motor abilities, etc. I guarantee she did not present random activities to your child.

Ask her about the activities she presents during therapy time. Some of the questions you can ask are:

- Why are you doing this activity?

- What skills are you aiming to teach with this task?

- How will I know if my child is learning from this activity?

The professional will be delighted to share this information with you. 

If you see your child engrossed in play during the appointment, wait until the end of the session to ask questions. Other professionals might talk to you through the session, explaining what they are doing and why. 

Tip 3. Don’t forget to ask for homework!

One of the main messages I want parents, teachers and early years educators to understand is that early intervention is not about one-to-one therapy time between a therapist and a child. Effective early intervention provides a supportive and stimulating environment for the child 24/7.

After a therapy session, and once you have understood why the therapist was doing the activities, ask her a follow-up question: what other activities can you do at home (or in the classroom) to continue helping your child/student?

The therapist will give ideas of other activities you can easily incorporate into your daily routine to help your child achieve specific development goals. 

Be clear on what you are aiming to achieve. For example, you might teach a child to match shapes with a shape sorter. You can continue encouraging the skills of putting things in a container and matching shapes with everyday tasks such as putting letters in the letterbox, slices of bread in the toaster, placing the correct key in the keyhole or putting the round bath plug in the round bath hole. All these involve matching shapes!

Work with your child’s therapist to find everyday activities and play activities that can continue promoting your child’s development. 

Your turn: If you found these tips helpful, please share them with other parents or educators who might benefit from them too. And if you have other suggestions for maximising our time with professionals, please share them.