There are just about a million things to consider when discussing back to school. The school schedules are changing minute to minute, meetings are being delayed, childcare options are limited at best and everyone is frantic. You may be looking at your child’s schedule and wondering how their related services are going to look now. With IEP meetings delayed and schedules still not set you may be nervous that your child is just not getting the same amount or quality of help that they got pre-COVID. If these thoughts have been circulating through your mind, then Outpatient therapy may be an excellent option to assist your child in achieving their goals.
Outpatient occupational therapy and speech therapy can be provided both via teletherapy and in the clinic. The clinic environment provides a safe, clean, and therapeutic space for children to explore and learn about their bodies. Teletherapy provides a space at home for not only assisting the child but also parent training to help decrease behaviours and improve the parent child relationship. Outpatient therapy offers a unique holistic perspective to your child’s difficulties different from when they receive therapy in school. In school therapy is focused on school function, but in the outpatient setting we have the unique ability to approach difficulties from all angles. Even if the school has said that they cannot address something, in outpatient we can address those needs. As an occupational therapist this is one of the aspects of outpatient therapy that I enjoy the most. People are multifaceted and occupational therapy is intended to address all of the different aspects of a person. I love that outpatient therapy allows me to address all of the fun, unique, and interesting aspects of your child to create holistic interventions that address all of your child’s needs, not just what impacts them in school.
Outpatient therapy gives you the most bang for your buck. I have been in alot of practice settings. Outpatient therapy provides your child with more. I have always heard the argument that ‘they are getting it in school’ or ‘its free at school’, However at school therapy is usually only 15-30 minutes. In outpatient therapy it is a full hour of intervention meaning your child is spending more time with the therapist and as a result is going to make more progress faster. Additionally, we have the ability to take the extra time to get to know your child, your family, and what your goals are for your child. This makes every outpatient experience personalized and special in a very different way from how therapy is in school. In essence you pay for what you get.
Overall, you are in for a vastly different experience with outpatient therapy, your child will be able to grow in a variety of areas and you can feel safe knowing that they are getting the very best whether you are seeing your therapist via teletherapy or in the clinic.
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