FAQs

Q:
What is educational therapy?
• Educational therapy is 1-to-1 direct strategy instruction for students and adults who have difficulties with attention, information processing, memory, and/or executive functioning in their daily lives.
• Educational therapy demystifies learning problems and helps clients gain awareness of their strengths in order to overcome or compensate for areas of weakness.
• The areas addressed by educational therapy include (but are not limited to):
  • Executive functioning weaknesses
  • Organizational and study skills
  • Language-based learning disabilities
  • Nonverbal learning disabilities
  • Attention deficit disorders
  • Math-based learning disabilities
  • Low academic self-esteem
  • Lack of motivation
  • Poor social skills
• If any of these issues have impacted aspects of an individual’s academics (such as listening, note-taking, test-taking, or planning), educational therapy can provide remedial benefits by matching effective strategies with the individual’s strengths and unique learning preferences.
• The goals of educational therapy may also include assisting in the college process, developing essays for college applications, as well as improving job performance skills.
• The success that clients experience through educational therapy helps to increase their motivation and confidence to do well in school or in the workplace.

Q: What does an educational therapist do?
• Educational therapists are specifically trained in a variety of disciplines. They work directly with an individual to help him or her discover approaches to learning using strategy instruction, formal and informal testing, and observation.
• In addition to the social, emotional, and biological factors that might impact one’s learning, an educational therapist is specially trained to administer psycho-educational evaluations, as well as interpret neuropsychological assessments.
• Individualized strategies are developed with the client for regular practice and can be applied to a wide range of academic and organizational issues.
• Educational therapists assist students (with or without learning disabilities) to prepare for school entrance exams, such as SSAT, PSAT, ACT, SAT, and GRE.
• Educational therapists can interface directly with a student’s school team by offering expert recommendations at school meetings. They continue to communicate with the student’s teachers and parents throughout the school year.
Educational therapists work with adult clients to strengthen their organizational, attentional, reading, math, and/or writing skills on the job or at home.

Q: How is tutoring different from educational therapy?
• Whereas tutoring focuses on
what a student learns, educational therapy emphasizes how a student learns. In other words, a tutor helps students understand the content of their assignments and assumes that underlying processes and executive functioning are in place. Educational therapy recognizes individual learning styles and emphasizes self-awareness, self-advocacy, and strategy use to reinforce information processing and remediate areas of weakness.

Q: How is academic coaching different from educational therapy?
• An educational therapist can take the role of "academic coach" to guide students through the learning process. Both the educational therapist and the academic coach will collaborate with a student’s teachers to ensure success throughout the academic year. However, academic coaching does not necessarily involve interpretation of neuropsychological evaluations or collaboration with other involved specialists, such as psychologists, neurologists, speech pathologists, or psychiatrists.

Q: How does an educational therapist develop an action plan for a client?
• An action plan is created during the initial consultation with the parents of a prospective student or with the adult client. During this 60-minute meeting, discussion revolves around the client’s academic, social, familial, and if applicable, evaluation history. Based on this information, the educational therapist recommends a course of action and sets goals with the parents or adult client. During the initial, rapport-building session with a student, the educational therapist sets additional goals with that individual as a means of encouraging ownership over the learning process.

Q: What is executive function coaching?
• Executive function coaching helps individuals with attention-related concerns and/or executive functioning issues to manage daily challenges, such as prioritizing time, connecting actions to outcomes, and planning ahead. The coach helps these individuals learn new routines and strategies for carrying out their daily activities in an organized, goal–focused, and timely manner. Through practical, strategic approaches, the executive function coach assists clients in making the necessary adjustments to their life routines.

Q: How are the sessions set up?
• At Learning Strategies Unlimited, educational therapy, academic coaching, and executive function coaching sessions are typically scheduled for fifty minutes per week. Extended sessions or twice weekly sessions may be necessary depending on an individual’s needs.
• Academic and executive function coaching occur as 1:1 video conferencing sessions. Under special circumstances, sessions may be facilitated by phone and/or email.

Q: What if I need to change the date or time of my scheduled appointment?
• To achieve your goals, it is important to be as consistent with your appointment as possible. However, if you are unable to keep your appointment, kindly give us
48 hours advance notice in order to avoid a late cancellation fee.