Your Therapy Source Magazine for Pediatric Therapists October 2016 | Page 3

5 STEPS TO INCREASE COMMUNICATION THIS
SCHOOL YEAR
There are many members of the
special education team such as
students, parents, teachers, teachers
assistants, administrators and related
service providers. Occupational and
physical therapists usually make up a
small but important group of the
special education team. Some team
members, especially therapists, can
have a varied caseload with students
from different classrooms, grades and
even schools which translates into
working with many school staff
members. This can make it very
difficult to communicate
effectively with all team members for
each student. Each team member
brings a different perspective on the
student. Therapists don’t have the
benefit of seeing most students daily like teachers do, therefore communication with the therapist
and the student’s parents and teacher is crucial to determine a student’s on-going progress. It can
be a struggle for parents from year to year. Parents may encounter new teachers, staff and
therapists from school year to school year which can be frustrating. School staff, parents and
school based therapists can help to forge stronger relationships by following five simple steps.
Here are some steps to increase communication this school year:
STEP 1: INTRODUCE YOURSELF
The most important step to improving communication is to introduce yourself to as many of the
members of the student’s special education team as possible including their primary instructors,
teaching assistants, physical educators, computer teacher, etc . By forming relationships with the
school staff, you will be more likely to hear about therapy concerns that a teacher may have
about a student. Therefore, you may be able to address those concerns before they impact the
student’s educational abilities further. If you do push in therapy, you will most likely be more
comfortable with the staff members. If some of your students are pulled out of the classroom for
therapy sessions, frequently observe them in the classroom as well making yourself more visible
and available to other staff members.
Many times the parents are the true team leaders. They can provide all the past medical and
educational history and the best overview of the child. Therapists should always remember to
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