Association of Educational Therapists
11300 W. Olympic Blvd.,
Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90064
phone 310-909-1490
800-286-4267
fax 310-437-0585
Does my child or adolescent need Educational Therapy?
The need for educational therapy may be identified in a number of ways. If your child or adolescent has never been identified by specialists or school personnel:
- You may have had early indicators when your child was very young, such as early ear infections, difficulty with maintaining concentration on a task, problems remembering, delay in learning language, or problems paying attention.
- Your child or adolescent may come home from school and tell you, “I’m stupid. I hate school! I don’t get what I am supposed to do.” You see a loss of self esteem regarding school performance.
- Your child or adolescent may resist going to school, or participating in the normal childhood activities.
- You may have concerns based on observation of your child or adolescent that all is not right with his or her ability to learn, or to benefit from school.
- Your child or adolescent may take an extreme amount of time and parent support to get homework tasks done.
- You see ongoing struggles with homework and school assignments that may increase as schoolwork becomes harder.
- You see a sudden onset of struggles with school work and homework.
- You see discouragement and withdrawal.
If your child or adolescent has been identified by a specialist or school personnel:
- Your child or adolescent may already have been identified as a struggling learner by school personnel such as a classroom teacher, the school psychologist, or the speech and language specialist. However, he or she may require additional individualized interventions beyond those now received.
- Your child or adolescent is receiving services from multiple specialists, and you need assistance in coordinating services.
- You need assistance in interpreting reports and recommendations from various specialists who work with your child.
What are some typical observations about an adult family member or friend that might lead to contact with an educational therapist? What behaviors are significant indicators?
- The adult is experiencing apparent difficulties with learning the expected tasks in the workplace.
- The adult notes a need for complicated compensatory strategies to camouflage difficulties with reading and writing in the workplace.
- The adult never attained the expected skills level to function in a workplace that requires reading and writing.
- The adult has difficulty organizing tasks and managing time efficiently.