Trending News

How Educational Therapists Can Unlock Student Potential

Educational therapy can complement other fields to better address student needs.

In the fields of education and psychology, there are specialized roles that share a number of similarities and yet, at the same time, are independent and unique fields. Fields such as academic tutoring, special education, and school counseling are all fairly well recognized by the general public—in generalities if not in specifics. One of these fields is educational therapy, which is an important part of the ecosystem of support for students who may be struggling with learning in any number of ways. Yet, outside of the profession itself, not many understand what educational therapists do and how it benefits learners.

Educational therapy is often confused with one or more of the other aforementioned specializations but is quite different from them. Part of this confusion is understandably due to the terminology—for instance, the presence of the word “therapy” in “educational therapy.” Therefore, in order to recognize and appreciate the many contributions that educational therapists have to offer, it would be useful to start by defining what educational therapy is and is not.

An educational therapist (ET) is a professional who works with and provides educational support for neurotypical and neurodiverse students of any age and grade level who have diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disabilities and/or learning differences. It is important to note that while educational therapists often integrate preexisting diagnoses when developing learning strategies for their students, it is not their role per se to make diagnoses of their own. Instead, they focus on helping their students understand and navigate any preexisting diagnoses and apply strategies to overcome the challenges associated with those diagnoses. Further, they also regularly work with students who do not have diagnosed learning differences but face various challenges to their learning nevertheless.

Read the full article by CLICKING HERE.

Marion Marshall, MS, BCET, FAET, is a a faculty member of the Notre Dame de Namur University’s Educational Therapy graduate program.