Answers to questions about Educational Therapy

1. What is Educational Therapy?
2. What is processing?
3. How does attention affect learning?
4. How do emotions and social skills affect learning?
5. Who needs Educational Therapy?
6. How is Educational Therapy different from tutoring and classroom teaching?
7. How much time does Educational Therapy take?
8. Is Educational Therapy only for children with learning difficulties?
9. How old should a child be to begin Educational Therapy?
10. How does an Educational Therapist assess my child's needs?
11. Can the Educational Therapist assess a student?
12. What kind of learning issues does an Educational Therapist address?
13. Will the Educational Therapist refer to other professionals?

1. What is Educational Therapy?
Educational Therapy is an intensive process of teaching and learning.  Each child's program is designed to meet that child's individual needs.  Educational therapy strengthens a student's academic and processing weaknesses through specialized methodologies and teaching materials.  Teaching is presented in an organized, structured, and sequenced approach.

2. What is processing?
Processing is the way we think and learn.  We all have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning.  We learn by taking in information through our five senses.  Some of us learn better by watching and some of us learn better by listening.  This refers to visual and auditory processing.  Attention and memory are also a part of processing.

3. How does attention affect learning?
As attention deficits are more accurately and more frequently diagnosed, their affects on learning are also more specifically identified.  Attention deficits make a student less available for learning.  This means that the child may not be paying attention and thus missing a good portion of any lesson in the classroom.  Thus the student falls behind in academic subjects, not due to intellectual ability, but accessibility.  Attention issues also affect organization and study skills.  With the one-on-one attention that a child receives in Educational Therapy, learning is much more successful.

4. How do emotions and social skills affect learning?
Emotional issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, Torrente's syndrome, and other diagnoses also take over a child's availability for learning.  An Educational Therapist provides a safe, understanding, and supportive environment where a person with such difficulties can learn.

5. Who needs Educational Therapy?
All children want to be successful in school.  When a child continues to struggle despite parent-teacher interventions or private academic tutoring, he or she should be evaluated for underlying learning deficits.  Children do not outgrow learning problems; learning problems often develop into social and emotional problems.

6. How is Educational Therapy different from tutoring and classroom teaching?

• Educational therapy addresses underlying learning skills such as visual and auditory processing, attention and focus, and memory skills on an individual basis.  Academic skills such as reading, writing, and math are taught through specific methodologies as weak processing skills are identified and addressed.  The Educational Therapist teaches skills necessary for learning to read, write, calculate, and problem solve.
• Tutoring focuses on re-teaching academic subjects and helps with homework.
• A teacher uses a text book to teach to a large group.

7. How much time does Educational Therapy take?
Educational Therapy sessions are one-on-one, with student and Education Therapist working for one hour, with a minimumof 2 sessions per week.  The length of time that a student may need Educational Therapy depends on the type of processing issues involved, cognitive ability, cooperation and behavior, and many other factors.

8. Is Educational Therapy only for children with learning difficulties?
All learners have strengths and weaknesses.  Even children that excel at school may want to learn new and more efficient ways of producing academic work.  Sometimes these students are not being challenged in the general education classrooms and are looking for enrichment material.  An Educational Therapist can provide new learning experiences for children both with and without special needs.

9. How old should a child be to begin Educational Therapy?
Children may begin struggling with school at a very early age.  Sometimes learning difficulties are not diagnosed until much later in the educational career.  The earlier a child begins Educational Therapy, the more educational issues can be avoided.  For students that have fallen behind significantly in school, Educational Therapy can be provided on a more intensive basis to catch up to grade and age level expectations.  Educational therapists at the Education Center teach children starting at age five and up through adults.

10. How does an Educational Therapist assess my child's needs?
Many children come to the Education Center with assessments completed by the school district or a private psychologist.  A thorough review of these assessments reveals an abundance of information about a child's learning processes.  If the student has not had previous testing completed, the child may be referred for testing to the school district, a clinical psychologist, an educational psychologist or a neuro-psychologist depending on need. 

11. Can the Educational Therapist assess a student?
Yes.  An Education Center Educational Therapist has been trained in and may use a variety of assessments.  Most importantly the Educational Therapist will assess specific skills to determine the precise needs of a child, which is different from most psychological or psycho educational assessments.

12. What kind of learning issues does an Educational Therapist address?
Learning issues are as distinct as the children who have them.  Dyslexia is a common problem with reading and writing.  Visualization, memory, and sequencing are often problems with math.  Problems with attention, organization, spelling, language processing, and grammar often interrupt the ability to write well.

13. Will the Educational Therapist refer to other professionals?
The Educational Therapist will refer to another Educational Therapist if she feels that another person would better suit your child's needs.  Since Educational Therapists work closely with other professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, behaviorists, and therapists, many other referrals are available.