How to make the most of therapy for children with SEND
When your child has additional needs, getting them to say words, take steps, sleep soundly, keep friends, or just stay well, can require extra work and outside support. Therapists can help your child directly or they can give you practical steps to support your child.
What is therapy?
Therapies are interventions: the ‘added extras’ that help your child stay well, grow stronger and get better at everyday things, when they aren’t doing as well as their peers.
Therapies might be exercises, programmes, treatments or just using different approaches suggested by professionals. Sometimes you will get special ‘kit’ like adapted cutlery or seating systems. Therapy can be talking or other ways of communication like Makaton or PECS. It can also be medication and getting that right.
How does therapy work?
If your child needs the input of a specialist therapist, they will be referred to that service after their initial assessment with your local children’s disability service. For example, if your child finds it hard to form words or communicate with others, they may be referred to the local speech and language service. Your child might be given some face to face appointments with a therapist and/or you will be given a set of activities to continue at home between appointments.
Make the most of therapy appointments
It’s worth making the most of appointments to really get a handle on what you can do:
- Before you meet, write down your concerns and take these with you. Keeping a diary and sending in a ‘pen picture’ ahead of time, detailing how things are for your child right now can help focus the discussion and ensure you don’t forget to raise any burning issues.
- Try and arrange appointments at times that suit your child; if they’re tired in the afternoon, ask for a morning appointment. Be prepared for clinics running late; take snacks and activities to occupy your child. If your child is working at their best, the therapist is more likely to make an accurate assessment.
- Include your child as much as you can: if possible, encourage your child to explain in their own words how they feel. You might be surprised by their feedback.
- Ask questions: whether you are worried that it takes your child longer to pick up new skills or why they are socially awkward, it will help you both to make sense of the problem.
- If you don’t understand, your child won’t either so keep asking: explanations need to be simple and strategies must be straightforward.
How to do the therapy homework
- Check that you understand what you have been asked to do and why. If the advice sounds counter-intuitive ask why it will work. It’s much harder to take a different approach and embrace new ideas if it doesn’t make sense. As one parent noted, “it was teaching me what to do that made the big difference for both of us”.
- Insist on real examples. Ask the therapist show you what they mean or rehearse an exercise with you. Practice enough times until you feel confident.
- Ask them for a written copy of recommendations or exercises so you have something to refer to, which could also include useful websites and online resources. If you need other resources or equipment which are difficult to get hold of, ask for help and if you trial a new treatment, be sure to report unexpected side effects.
- Involve their school or nursery. It’s not just at home that the adjustments can be made; if your child attends school or nursery, be sure to get them involved or have the therapist visit the setting to ensure that the written recommendations reach them and are put into action.
- Build any exercises or strategies into your daily routine. It’s important your child doesn’t feel ‘done to’ so building strategies into every day routines can make it seamless
- Try and make it fun wherever possible. It’s much more likely to be effective if you can find a way to make it enjoyable for you and your child.
- Don’t over do it. Not every moment needs to be filled with purposeful activity, give your child time and space to relax and dream
- Be realistic: it‘s what happens day in day out that matters most. Until it feels like second nature, doing things and thinking differently can feel like hard work. Your new ideas need lots of practice. So don’t expect to see big changes very quickly.
- Be kind to yourself. Take a longer view: quiet optimism and patience will make a difference. With practice we can all be our child’s best therapist.
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