Your kids have spent the summer splashing in pools, eating ice cream, and staying up way past their bedtime. It’s hard to believe that in a few short weeks, they’ll be trading in those swimsuits for backpacks.
If your child has been receiving private speech, language, or occupational therapy services this summer, you may be considering cancelling these services for the school year. After all, won’t their speech therapy services in school be enough?
Here are three important reasons to continue private therapy services during the school year:
1. One on One Setting
In the public schools, it is highly likely that your child will be paired with as many as three other children during therapy. While school therapists are trained to make the most of therapy sessions involving several children, the simple math is that your child might only be getting ten minutes of therapy out of a 30-minute session.
In private therapy your child receives one-on-one therapy services, so every minute of a session is devoted towards working on his or her own specific goals.
2. More Collaboration with Parents
In private therapy, parents consult with the therapist directly after each session. You are kept informed of the specific goals your child is working on, what strategies will improve their skills in these areas, and suggestions for what can be done at home to continue the progress.
More importantly, you as the parent get to know your therapist; together you prioritize what areas you want to work on first. As much as school therapists try to keep parents informed through quarterly progress updates and annual IEP meetings, they provide services for so many students that their ability to collaborate with you is limited.
3. More Therapy=More Progress
Public school therapy is free and takes place during the school day, making it a cost-effective and convenient form of therapy for your child. Unfortunately, not every child who is struggling will qualify for services in public schools. Research has shown that early intervention is a key to reducing the severity of your child’s needs and increasing the positive impact of therapy services.
Giving your child the ability to receive therapy services in public schools AND in a private setting maximizes their ability to make progress early. That means less services will be needed later on, when school coursework becomes more complex. Basically, the more therapy your child receives early on, the fewer services they will need later on!
Remember, the benefits of private therapy continue to last all year round! Public school services combined with private sessions makes for a one-two punch that tackles your child’s therapy needs early on.
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