Treating the Whole Child

Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 7.06.53 PM

Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 7.06.53 PM

By Hanna Bogen, M.S., CCC-SLPPicture this: a child loses his temper during a math lesson at school and rips up his homework assignment at the end of the lesson. In an effort to provide support, his teacher assumes the math is too hard and modifies his assignment to be shorter and less complex. Meanwhile, his parents assume he needs firmer boundaries, more time for homework, and less screen time. His therapist, on the other hand, assumes he has a deficit in emotional regulation and introduces new regulation strategies. Who is right?This scenario is all too familiar; everyone is attempting to help the child within his or her own “island” of support. Understanding how to effectively support the whole child involves understanding a child’s spheres of influence and synthesizing recommendations across spheres. The support team must identify who influences the child, and the extent of that influence. Each sphere may identify different needs, and those needs can be viewed as the individual puzzle pieces that come together to form the whole picture of a child’s ability and disability. Although each individual’s profile is unique, it is safe to assume that the therapist is only one small component of a larger web of interaction and support the child receives on a daily or weekly basis.When we acknowledge the role that various people play in a child’s development, it becomes apparent that effective and efficient interventions must involve shared support among all individuals who influence that child. Parents and caregivers are often the experts about a child’s general interests and subcortical needs (e.g., sleep, eating, hydration, and movement). The classroom teacher(s) and school staff are typically on the front lines of recognizing a child’s areas of academic ease or difficulty. A child’s peers/classmates may witness the child’s emotional highs and lows, as they are often present for less-structured, play-based interactions. Although the therapist may have a plethora of functional strategies and supports for a child’s specific needs, these can become underutilized, or forgotten altogether, if collaboration across spheres of influence does not take place and interventions are not effectively shared.With time as a precious, and often expensive, commodity, support teams must find creative ways to share information and recommendations. Agreeing upon a functional, manageable system to share information is an important first step in collaborative support. It can be helpful to observe therapy sessions or classroom lessons and have the therapist/teacher provide home suggestions.  Some teams prefer regular phone check-ins, others utilize shared documents (e.g., Google Docs, shared documents in Dropbox, etc.) that allow each person to add notes, observations, and recommendations. Weekly, monthly or bimonthly check-ins keep all members of a child’s support team aware of changes, new challenges, and successes.In addition to shared knowledge across the team, families can benefit from learning about local events and activities that provide opportunities for information sharing and support in a child’s specific areas of difficulty. In the Bay Area, a large variety of community events, workshops, and activities are available for children and families.  Here are some that CW is involved with:

  • We will provide a free training at We Rock the Spectrum, an indoor gym in Berkeley on April 18. We Rock the Spectrum offers classes and open gym opportunities for children who benefit from movement activities to support sensory-regulation (www.werockthespectrumberkeley.com).

  • CW is excited to participate in the 1st Annual SEED/POISE Special Needs Resource Fair on April 30, from 6:30 to 8:30pm at the Lafayette Library.

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