How our therapists can work with your child

Some children find it challenging to regulate and express their emotions. This can make it difficult for them to navigate home and school environments in a way that is productive to developing their independence as they get older, as well as with learning in the classroom. 

Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists both play a role in helping children to develop these skills and apply them in a variety of environments.

For instance, a Speech Pathologist may work with your child to:

• Develop their emotional vocabulary so they can accurately describe how they are feeling

• Learn to evaluate the size of problems

• Represent their emotions visually

• Improve their self-esteem by developing resources that can help them to accomplish tasks with increased independence

Similarly, an Occupational Therapist may help to:

• Identify ways to fulfil sensory needs which may be contributing to the child’s difficulty with regulating their emotions

• Develop strategies to regulate these emotions once the child has identified how they are feeling

• Teach them the specific skills required to independently complete daily living tasks at home, and the skills required to operate more independently in the classroom

Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists work closely with the child’s parents and learning team throughout this process to ensure goals and approaches align with those that have been identified in the home and school environment.

What outcomes can be achieved?

When working with your child in the ways mentioned, we can help them to achieve the following short-term outcomes:

• Improved self-esteem and independence through the ability to complete daily routines with less support from caregivers

• Improved ability to regulate own emotions at home and in the classroom with less support from caregivers

• Improved comfort through sensory needs being respected and fulfilled

After establishing emotional identification and regulation skills in the home environment, the child may work towards expanding these into more complex environments and situations. For example:

• Regulating emotions and solving conflict during interactions with friends and peers

• Regulating emotions during high energy activities like group sports

• Managing transition to a new class in the next school year

A personalised approach

Personalising resources and strategies, and utilising the child’s strengths and interests when developing them can play a big part in increasing the child’s sense of ownership and agency over their therapy journey, and assist with making therapy more fun and engaging for them

So how does this work? 

Working with his Speech Pathologist Reece, nine-year-old Darcy used his creativity, skills in drawing, and his interest in Pokémon™, to design a creature which he felt best represented his feelings when he was operating in each of the 4 Zones of Regulation™. He also worked with Reece to develop a visual sequence that he could follow each morning to help him get ready for school independently.

Every child is unique and has different wants, needs, challenges and interests. For this reason, we take a very individualised approach to each child we work with to ensure we’re able to help them on their personal journey. 

To learn more about how our therapists can work with your child to meet their specific needs, reach out to our team on 1300 103 194 or request an appointment online. We can’t wait to meet you and your child!