The Collaborative Challenge for the School Therapist

Kathryn Biel Kathryn Biel[/caption]

GUEST BLOGGER: Kathryn Biel

I just completed my first week back to school, and I’m tired and energized all at the same time. This is my third year in the same school district and schools, which is like a record for me (I used to work for a contract agency, so I was moved around all the time). What makes this stability nice is the chance to collaborate more and more with the teachers and other therapists. At this point, collaboration is a must, and resistance is futile. Scheduling alone sort of clues us into that fact.

As a physical therapist, the majority of my sessions are pull-out, as I haven’t figured out how to push-in without totally disrupting the class. As such, looking at a schedule that includes two hours of core classes (ELA and Math), 90 minutes of special ed teacher (for my integrated students), 40 minutes each of special and lunch/recess, doesn’t leave much time for pull-out sessions, especially when a student receives PT, OT, Speech, and Counseling. As such, collaboration is a must.

For OT and Speech, the natural progression of collaboration occurs in the form of the push-in session. This, believe it or not, can be a hard sell. Sometimes, therapists are set in their ways and like the pull-out method. Other times, pre-conceived group ideas preclude this as students are in different classes. Still, and most unfortunately, sometimes teachers want students to leave the class for a while.

However, there are benefits to a therapist being in a classroom, more than just the additional body. It’s another set of eyes and therefore another set of ideas. From this, true collaboration can occur. The therapist in the room can bring a whole host of suggestions to help all the students in the class, not just the ones on program. This, in turn, helps the teachers. It may be more work, especially at the onset. The trial and error, getting to know the challenges that 20+ students create when they are mixed together.

We all know that even if a classroom is not identified as an “integrated” classroom, there will be students in there at different levels of academic readiness, neurological development, sensory integration, and overall needs. A well-rounded collaborative program between motor therapists, speech therapists, counselors, and teachers can work to provide a more hearty and thorough educational environment, especially in this trying climate. If you would like to learn more about how to create a collaborative educational environment, check out Sara Harvey’s course, A Collaborative Challenge: Therapists Successfully Supporting Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom that is part of the Seventeenth Annual Therapies in the Schools Conference.

~Kathryn Biel, PT, DPT

 

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4 Critical Questions to Ask Yourself When Preparing an In-Service for your Therapy Department.

 

You have returned from a weekend of learning great new material and want to share it with your department….. How do you prepare?
A hand is raised yet I cannot turn around

I want to share some great tips with you from our company president:

Carol Loria, President ERI:

You want to share your learning and enthusiasm with your colleagues but you only have 1 ½  hours to present 2 days worth of material.

How do you pair down the material?  How do you decide which information will have the greatest impact on your colleagues?

Questions to Consider:

  • Who is the audience for this in-service?
    • How well do they know the topic and what is their general level of expertise?  This will determine how much background/theoretical information to cover versus how much time you can spend focusing on clinical applications.
    • What is the predominant patient population that they work with? What are their greatest challenges and priorities?  This can help tailor the focus of your presentation to their needs
  • How does the audience feel about the topic?
  • If their attitude is supportive or better yet, excited about learning this new information, you needn’t spend much time presenting material to win them over and you can get down to clinical applications fairly quickly.
    • If the group is not generally open to this new or alternative information, you may want to spend the majority of the time providing an evidence-based cogent argument and leave the clinical applications and treatment strategies for a follow-up with those that are apt to be open to them.
  • How best to divide the time?
    • For a one and one-half hour talk, plan on 5 minutes for an introduction to explain your goals and plan for the session
    • Offer one comment to let them know how “charged and excited you are about the material….do this in the first few minutes
    • Plan 75 minutes of content after your intro, and 10 minutes for questions at the end.

Good luck! Share your thoughts and stay tuned; next time we’ll be talking about hints for deciding on content for your in-service.

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How to Overcome Nervousness When Presenting An In-Service to Your Therapy Department

 

Training and Development Word CloudYou have taken one of our courses and now want to share it with your department.
Aaagh….. but how do you get over the anxiety of public speaking?
I want to share some great tips with you from our company president:

Carol Loria, President ERI:

You just finished a continuing education course and you can’t wait to impart your excitement and the new knowledge you learned BUT you are so nervous.

You are afraid that your hands and voice will be shaking.  No worries, you are not alone.  Studies have shown that people fear public speaking more than death. 

When I first started working with faculty at Education Resources, I was truly shocked to discover that many internationally renowned speakers got butterflies in their stomach (one even threw up her lunch) prior to taking to the stage and still looked so unbelievably calm and in control.  I started asking how they managed it and through the years research has borne out their “home remedies”.  You can train yourself to appear calm and most people can even overcome their nervousness completely.

Here are just a few tricks I’ve learned over the years:

  • Think of this in-service as an opportunity to develop your public speaking skills….NOT as a performance
  • Ask yourself if there were any “aha” moments for you when you learned the material. This will conjure up your enthusiasm and we all know that if you can impart that enthusiasm, you will engage their interest.
  • Increase your confidence and ease by practicing at home, standing in front of a mirror (or a sympathetic roommate)
  • DO NOT read from your notes but rather use them as talking points
  • Speak with words and tone that is both comfortable and natural
  • Make eye contact with your audience intermittently looking at your papers
  • Always check out the space before you speak, even if it is a familiar room to you….make sure the lights; temperature and arrangement of the chairs are to your liking.

What are your tips to overcome nervousness?

Stay tuned; next time we’ll be talking about 4 critical questions to ask yourself when preparing a presentation.

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Meet Our Newest Instructor; Pediatric Therapist GAIL RITCHIE

Gail Ritchie Gail Ritchie[/caption]

Gail Ritchie, OTR/L is an independent, pediatric therapy provider and Occupational Therapist offering a range of therapies based on the culmination of skills and expertise attained over the last 30 years. Therapies include a variety of techniques and strategies specific to the individual needs of the child and family, while providing both emotional support and challenge.

A nationally and internationally renowned clinical educator and a certified NDTA instructor since 1996, Gail participated in the development of the book entitled Neuro-Development Approach: Theoretical Foundations and Principles of Clinical Practice and the study guide for Neuro-Developmental Treatment Approach: Theoretical Foundations and Principles of Clinical Practice.  She is currently on the Theory and Curriculum Committees for the NDTA.

Join us to hear Gail present her new course:
Myofascial Release and Its Application to Neuro-Developmental Treatment

October 21-22, 2016 – Rockford, IL
December 2-3, 2016 – Roanoke, VA
April 1-2, 2017 – Los Angeles, CA
July 28-29, 2017 – TBA
October 7-8, 2017 – Washington, DC
November 9-10, 2017 – Kissimmee, FL
December 8-9, 2017 – Mountainside, NJ

In this symposium we will review the Fascial system as it relates to individuals with atypical posture and movement.  When atypical posture and movement alter the natural and efficient alignment of the skeleton, the fascial system adapts by contracting and bonding. The primary focus of this workshop will be on the hands on treatment, using MFR addressing the musculoskeletal system that is needed prior to facilitation of movement.  As therapists we can improve our clinical decision making skills by forming and testing hypotheses regarding critical impairments when treating individuals diagnosed with multiple system impairments such as cerebral palsy, stroke, congenital hypotonicity, and other neuromotor impairments.

This material is useful for Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists and Assistants working with either the adult or pediatric populations.

This course can be applied toward NDTA re-certification

Click here for course details, CEU information, to download a brochure or to register

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Therapies in the School 2016 – Secure Your Spot Now!

We are excited to say that registrations are starting to roll in for our extremely popular Therapies in the School Conference, coming up in November in Massachusetts.

This was a sell out conference last year and we do not want you to be disappointed!

Seventeenth Annual
THERAPIES in the SCHOOL
Conference

November 17-18, 2016
Framingham, MA

With New Preconference : Wednesday November 16

Therapies in the School Conference

You Asked and We Listened!

We asked all of our past participants to give us their feedback and input for future conferences and we are confident that you will not be disappointed!

This year’s conference provides participants with collaborative approaches to supporting instruction in the classroom with related services, address the functional but struggling child, how to support fine motor skills, and realistic strategies for the moderate to severely involved child.

Returning this year, to join our distinguished line up of faculty members are nationally acclaimed and respected speakers Jan Hollenbeck, John Pagano, and Sara Harvey, who will incorporate mindfulness, movement and music, therapeutic implications of our current knowledge of how the brain works, motor issues in ASD, and visual processing as it affects learning in their evidence-based sessions.

New Preconference 

To help therapists and other school based professionals improve self-regulation and emotional control in children of all ages, Education Resources Inc. is offering:

The Zones of Regulation: A Framework to Foster Self-Regulation and Emotional Control®

Nationally acclaimed speaker Leah Kuypers, M.A. Ed., OTR/L will provide therapists, teachers, and parents with hands-on knowledge on the nature of self-regulation and strategies for improving self regulation and emotional control in individuals of all ages. The presentation addresses topics including the brain’s involvement, typical development, sensory processing, emotional regulation, and executive functioning. Participants will learn an explicit, stair-stepped method and tools to guide students in utilizing The Zones framework across situations and environments to regulate sensory needs, impulses, and emotional states in response to social demands.

The course will be held:

November 17-18th – Sheraton Framingham Hotel, Framingham, Massachusetts.
Pre Conference – Wednesday November 16th, 2016 at the same venue

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A BROCHURE

Therapists and educators may register directly through Education Resources Inc.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION  for complete course description, CEU details, speaker bios, registration information and group registration details.

We look forward to seeing you at this year’s conference!

 
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