Often parents think that if their child gets in–school Speech and/or Occupational Therapy that their child would not benefit from in-clinic therapy. There are many advantages of getting therapy in-school and in a clinic based setting. Therapists welcome collaboration between school and clinic therapy, which in turn helps your child receive the best care.

The first benefit of your child receiving both in-school and in-clinic therapy is increased frequency. Therapy in the school is usually a group setting of children who are working on individual and group goals. These goals are often academic based and don’t touch on the entire scope of your child’s development.

When your child receives therapy in a clinic based setting, your child is getting one on one therapy. This therapy is based on the whole child’s wellbeing. Children attending multiple therapies per week benefit from having increased frequency of therapy. Children also tend to make greater gains in meeting their goals with multiple therapies and in a shorter period of time.

As your child starts to meet their goals, therapists look across each environment to see if your child has mastered a skill. Having children attend therapy in two environments can aid in their generalization.

Therapists in schools are often limited in regard to which skills they can work on with your child. Clinic based therapists are able to work on more of the functional goals which in turn addresses more areas. Often times clinic-based therapists will reach out to the school therapist and vis-versa. The collaboration between the two therapists can ensure that your child is receiving the best care possible.

As the parent/guardian, it’s important to let each therapist know all the places your child is receiving therapy. The more information given about your child, the more help your child gets to reach their goals!