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 observed some of the following indicators:

• Early ear infections, delay in learning language, and difficulty maintaining concentration, remembering, and/or paying attention.
• Loss of self-esteem regarding school performance.
• Resistance going to school or participating in normal childhood activities.
• Lack of progress at school and questions about ability to learn or to benefit from school.
• Extreme amount of time and parent support to get homework tasks done.
• Struggles with homework and school assignments that increase as schoolwork becomes harder.
• Discouragement and withdrawal.

If your child or adolescent has been identified by a specialist or school personnel, you may still find that:

• your child appears to require additional individualized interventions beyond those offered at school.
• your child 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.

Educational Therapy for Adults

Significant indicators for adults who would benefit from educational therapy include the following:

• The adult is experiencing difficulty with learning 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 skill levels needed to function in a workplace that requires reading and writing.
• The adult has difficulty organizing tasks and managing time efficiently.

When Selecting an Educational Therapist, ask about...

• educational background, training, and experience.
• areas of specialization.
• short-term objectives and long-range goals for the client.
• approaches and techniques for intervention.
• fee structure and policies.
• Associate ET, ET/Professional, or Board Certified membership in the Association of Educational Therapists.

AET Can Help You Find an Educational Therapist

The Association of Educational Therapists, the national professional organization for educational therapists, has set professional standards and requirements for educational therapists, including academic criteria, standards of ethical practice, and continuing education requirements.

AET verifies the training background of educational therapists at the Associate ET, ET/Professional, and Board Certified levels of membership and provides an online database of qualified practitioners.  You can be confident that these professionals have met rigorous training requirements.