Educational Therapy takes place within specialized, one-on-one sessions that are tailored to meet the specific academic needs of the individual student. Various methods are used to optimize the student’s strengths so that they may subsequently be utilized to fortify his or her weaknesses. Because many students need to have concepts broken down into manageable “chunks,” the educational therapist approaches sessions with methodical organization and structure. Educational therapy also focuses on teaching a student compensatory strategies that provide clarity and thereby allow the student to experience success in the classroom and beyond. In addition to academic remediation and the strengthening of the sub-skills that comprise learning, educational therapy can also improve a student’s underlying processing skills so that learning new material can be facilitated.

 

Educational Therapy sessions are one-on-one, with the educational therapist and student intensively working together for 50 minute sessions. Although it is recommended that a student meets with the educational therapist for a minimum of two sessions per week, each student’s plan will be discussed on a case-by-case basis during the intake session.

 

Who needs Educational Therapy?

All children have the innate desire to be successful in school. As Mel Levine (a guru in the field of special education) remarks, “laziness is a myth” and “everybody yearns to be productive.” When a child continues to struggle despite parent-teacher interventions or private academic tutoring, he or she should be evaluated for underlying learning deficits by a licensed neuropsychologist or clinical psychologist who specializes in learning issues. Instead of placing blame on a student for not performing in school, it is imperative that the student is evaluated to discover what is thwarting his or her progress. Unfortunately, children do not “outgrow” learning problems, and it is important to begin intervention as soon as possible to mitigate and potentially prevent self-esteem problems and unnecessary daily stress.

 

Educational Therapy vs. Tutoring vs. Classroom Teaching:

• Educational therapy addresses underlying learning skills such as visual and auditory processing, attention and focus, and memory skills. Academic skills such as reading and writing are remediated by teaching strategies necessary for learning to read, write, calculate, and problem solve. An educational therapist has been to graduate and oftentimes post-graduate school in preparations for working with all types of learners.

• Tutoring focuses on re-teaching academic subjects and helps with homework. A tutor can be the high school student next door or anyone who is proficient with the subject at hand.

• A teacher is responsible for educating a large group of students with varying learning abilities. Although he or she would like to individually work with students who may be having difficulties, time and resources usually do not enable the teacher to do so.