Educational Therapists See to Be Healers in Times of Tight Budgets: With More Skills and the Ability to Work on a Wider Range of Problems Than Traditional Tutors, the Emerging Practitioners of Educational Therapy Forge Closer Links between School and Home

As funding cuts require schools to do more with less, one main concern is how to continue high-quality learning. That's an ever-more difficult proposition where students who have any of a variety of learning difficulties are involved. In such situations an educational can be helpful. What's educational therapy? It's an emerging discipline and practice of providing intensive, individual, intervention. Educational therapy is a practice that involves the holistic treatment of issues that affect the learning process. In addition to providing interventions that address academic goals, educational therapists address issues such as motivation and self-confidence. Different from classroom teachers who work with groups of students, educational therapists (ETs) typically work one on one with students in private practice. ETs work with students who have learning difficulties, whether or not they have a diagnosed disability. Previously, educational therapists used other titles including clinical teacher and remedial therapist (Werbach, Kornblau, & Slucki, 2010). Educational therapy is a growing profession that's recognized nationally and internationally. However, K-12 educators may not know what educational therapy is or what educational therapists do (Techaviratanakul, 2010). Many are unaware that collaborating with an educational can be helpful. Educational therapists and school partners--general and special education teachers, administrators, school psychologists, counselors, and parents--have the potential to form a powerful treatment alliance to meet the needs of students. Such collaboration could also help families feel more connected with their children's education. Understanding educational therapy The Association of Educational Therapists (AET) defines and sets standards for the practice of educational therapy. A major difference between educational therapists and tutors is that the educational role requires an extensive background in learning difficulties and related fields, as well as training in educational therapy. Educational therapists address underlying issues that impede learning, while tutors generally only teach subject matter. Unlike tutors, ETs are expected to be skilled in the following areas: * Administering and/or interpreting formal and informal educational assessments; * Synthesizing information from parents, teachers, and allied professionals; * Developing and implementing appropriate interventions to remediate school or work-related learning and/or behavior problems; * Teaching strategies for resolving social and emotional aspects of learning issues; * Providing interventions for improving metacognition, organization, study skills, attention, and executive functioning skills; * Facilitating communication between the student, family, school or workplace, and any allied professionals involved in the individual's educational development; and * Advocating for the individual (AET, 2008, p. 1). AET has about 900 members nationwide. There are also members in Japan, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Singapore. Currently, there are four university training programs dedicated to educational therapy. California, where all university training programs in ET are located, has about 600 members. Although the AET sets criteria for membership, standards for practice, and board certification, there is no current regulation requiring membership with the AET to practice educational therapy. However, it is certainly considered more professional by those in the field to be properly trained in ET procedures. In a study of the efficacy of educational therapy, 88.6% of respondents whose children worked with board certified ETs said they felt educational therapy helped their child function more effectively at school (Maslow & Ungerleider, 2007). Generally, parents hire educational therapists to work with a child. …

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