Speech and occupational therapy can be done at home
Many parents of special-needs children assume they must send their children to school to receive benefits such as speech and occupational therapy. This is not true. Speech therapy and occupational therapy are available for home-schooled youngsters, and there are many resources for you to provide some of these therapies on your own.
Definitions
Both speech and occupational therapy are used to assist children who otherwise would have delays in these areas. Speech therapy is used to aid those who have significant difficulties with oral communication, while occupational therapy is used to help individuals perform daily tasks, such as dressing and bathing.
Early Intervention
Generally, speech and occupational therapy can begin as early as birth. High Country Early Intervention provides a checklist to determine whether your child might be a candidate for early intervention.
Benefits
The biggest benefit of having these therapies take place in the home is that the child is in a familiar location. Rather than sitting in a waiting room, bound to be handled by new people every week, your home-schooled child is able to have the therapist come to him. Also, the therapist is able to use your child's own toys and playthings instead of unfamiliar objects.
Considerations
The most important thing to consider is that your home-schooling routine will have to accommodate therapy sessions. Whether your child has therapy at home or away from home, it will be a regular interruption in her life. But for a home-schooled child, the interruption will also involve the people around her, since the therapy will be in the home.
You can provide some therapies for your home-schooled child yourself. The National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network provides manuals to assist parents in providing their own speech therapy. "Maaja," the online site of a mom who home-schooled her special-needs children but who now teaches special-needs children in schools, has a list of activities you can do at home with your child for occupational therapy.
Warning
A child who needs speech or occupational therapy must receive it. While it is not necessary to turn to the public schools for help, and while these therapies can be done at home, you must ensure that they are done. Consistency is the key. Whether you see progress or not from one day to the next, keep at it. Do not fall into the trap of slacking off.
Tags: occupational therapy, speech occupational, your child, home-schooled child, occupational therapy