What is Educational Therapy?
Educational Therapy is 1:1 intervention for students that seeks to improve academic performance by increasing self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-advocacy. Educational therapy differs from tutoring in that tutoring typically addresses only specific subjects.
Educational therapists analyze a student's learning style through one-on-one observation, neurological assessments and other evaluations to determine the underlying causes of academic struggle. While educational therapists are not licensed psychologists, they take into consideration psychological aspects that can interfere with learning, such as environment, behavior and motivation. Educational therapists collaborate with teachers, parents, and other professionals on the student’s learning team to help set attainable learning goals and accommodations.
8 Neurological Constructs: The Building Blocks of Learning
In 2003, Dr. Mel Levine published a book which explained 8 fundamental components in which learning
develops. Those components are:
Attention
The ability to control mental energy, processing information, pacing and self-control
Temporal-Sequential Ordering
Understanding the order to things, being able to recall and arrange items in a sequence, time
management
Spatial Ordering
Managing the body in space, organizing information and materials
Memory
Processing new information, using information to complete tasks, storing information for later use
Language
The ability to receive and understand information and to make yourself understood
Neuromotor Functions
Body coordination, fine motor hand and eye coordination, writing and typing
Social Cognition
Selecting appropriate topics, understanding feelings, playing and cooperating with others, developing
appropriate relationships with authority figures
Higher Order Cognition
Generating ideas, making decisions, solving problems, knowing how/when to apply rules, thinking
through problems and considering different angles
Educational Therapy looks at how these building blocks interact for each individual learner. We address the academic struggle by addressing the area or areas causing the struggle.
By considering the neurodevelopmental profile and and working within your child's interests, your child becomes a motivated, efficient, confident learner.