How Our Clinicians Help Your Child

Our Clinicians are all based at the Helen Allison School and work side by side with the teaching and support staff thereby ensuring an embedded Transdisciplinary approach is in place at the very start of your child’s educational journey.

Our speech and language therapists and therapy assistant work with your child, both in school and in partnership with parents. After an initial detailed assessment has taken place they will devise an intervention plan for your child which outlines how their language and social communication skills can progress. This may be delivered in a variety of ways appropriate to your child’s needs. Communication profiles and programmes are in place where appropriate and are constantly updated as your child’s needs change over time. They may run groups for both primary and secondary school pupils, or deliver paired and individual sessions where needed.

Occupational Therapists in our schools are an integral part of the transdisciplinary team. This ensures that we can provide a bespoke package of intervention to meet the ever-changing needs of your child. Therapeutic approaches and interventions are embedded into the daily lives of our students and form part of their waking day curriculum.

Occupational Therapy (OT) aims to enhance the health and wellbeing of your child through enabling participation in daily life through meaningful occupations (activities) such as:

• Self-care (e.g. getting dressed, eating a meal, managing toileting needs and managing personal hygiene).
• Productivity (e.g. participating in school, organisational skills, going to work)
• Leisure (e.g. socialising with friends, belonging to a group, participating in hobbies/play).

Our consultant clinical psychologist, assistant Psychologist and positive behaviour support team will compile an Individual Support Plan for your child. They may work individually with them and in class groups throughout the school.

The team supports you as parents, and sends learning materials home where beneficial. They train the other staff and keep everyone up-to-date with your child’s progress.

Above all, we look at your child holistically: our transdisciplinary team works as one unit, bringing together vast amounts of knowledge and experience. We are rigorous and systematic, and we constantly assess and monitor how your child is doing. We always look for the best way to support your child and enhance their quality of life.