At Handprints Therapies, we pride ourselves on our multidisciplinary approach to therapy. Our therapists take a step beyond simple collaboration, and instead actively work together as a team during your child’s therapy sessions. There are various reasons that we value this joint approach, and a number of key benefits for children when ABA and SPOT therapy programs combine.
Key Benefits of Combining ABA + SPOT Therapy
When ABA therapy sessions combine with speech, occupational, or physical therapy sessions, the therapists involved get a unique opportunity to learn from one another, work together, and create a cohesive therapeutic environment that is specific to each child.
For example, a child initially enrolled in ABA communication programs who also struggles with articulation issues or apraxia will benefit by a speech-language pathologist joining the therapy sessions. This combination of ABA + SPOT allows for the techniques to improve the overall effectiveness of the child’s therapy by approaching the barrier in multiple ways.
Taking this additional step beyond collaboration and actually combining or overlapping the sessions allows our therapists to work together as a team and effectively “co-treat” the challenges that the child is experiencing.
How to Decide Which Therapy Types Are Needed
The decision to seek out multiple therapies for your child can occur at various points. Most of the time, our therapists here at Handprints will receive a referral for recommended therapies directly from your child’s physician. At this point, we already have a blueprint for how to proceed.
Other times, the BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) may interview the caregiver and determine what type of therapy evaluations are most appropriate based on the caregivers’ responses.
One benefit to receiving therapy services in a center that has multiple disciplines, such as here at Handprints Therapies, is that therapists in each discipline may also recommend additional therapies to their current learners if they see a need, following direct observations.
At Handprints, we have specialized therapists in both ABA and SPOT fields that can help support your child’s therapy programs to provide the best possible experience and outcome.