What is developmental therapy?
Developmental therapy focuses on your child as a whole. Therapists look at a child globally (i.e. cognition, social-emotional development, speech and language development, fine motor, gross motor, and self-help skills). Developmental therapy typically begins during your child’s most significant time of development, between ages birth to three. During this time, your child is creating the foundation for their developmental track. A developmental therapist will focus their sessions on your family’s needs and your child’s needs.
What does a developmental therapist do?
Developmental therapists (DT) assess a child globally to determine their areas of strength and need. A DT also looks at your child’s home and/or school environments and their daily routine to see how their surroundings attribute to their development. DTs then service your child as needed using a combination of play and parent education. Children use their cognitive processing, memory, and attention span to regulate themselves and to help them understand their environment. DTs provide your child and your family with the tools to help them develop in their natural environment. A DT’s ultimate goal is to empower your family in understanding and navigating their child’s learning process.
What are the benefits to developmental therapy?
Developmental therapists look at how a child is developing in every area of development. Sessions may focus on joint attention, engagement, play skills (functional and symbolic), attention span, following directions, frustration tolerance, cognition, social sills, preschool readiness, etc. DTs can also provide support for your family’s daily routine goals (i.e. sleeping, meal time, going to the park). Your child’s developmental therapy may include a combination of these areas based on your family’s needs.
Common misconceptions:
Although your child may benefit from developmental therapy services as a young child, this does not mean they will always be in a special education program. Many children who benefit from developmental services are provided the tools that will help them succeed when they enter school. Developmental therapists are trained to provide the children and the families that they service with the resources to help children succeed throughout their development.
If your child is demonstrating difficulty in one or more of the areas discussed above, consider contacting one of our developmental therapists.
Questions or concerns?
If you have questions or concerns about your child’s development, please contact us at info@playworkschicago.comor at (773) 332-9439.
Developmental Therapist
Reference: EB Pediatric Resources, Inc. (Chicago, IL). What is Developmental Therapy? Retrieved from: http://pediatricresources.org/developmental.html.
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