When our learners find that they’re having difficulties keeping up with or managing their learning, SelfDesign is there to help. Every learner enrolled with SelfDesign® Learning Community can be referred by their learning consultant for support, if needed, from our in-house occupational therapist and speech–language therapist.
“Any of our learners with a referral can have up to three sessions with our in-house professional therapists,” says SelfDesign Support Education Services Coordinator Kathy Rollheiser.
Meet our in-house therapists, Owen and Nicole
Learners who have difficulties regulating their emotions, controlling how their body moves, handling fine, repetitive hand or finger movements, or maintaining attention and focus can work with our occupational therapist, Owen Thomas.
Nicole Currie and her team provide therapy for learners who have speech and language difficulties. That can include difficulties with articulation — being able to say words properly — or social communication and the related interpersonal behaviours like knowing what to say in a conversation, looking people in the eye when you’re speaking to them, and waiting for other people to finish speaking. It can also include early reading skills because reading has been linked to understanding speech sounds within words.
The first session with either therapist typically involves assessing the extent and severity of the learner’s specific speech, language, self-regulation, motor control or attention challenges over Zoom.
In the next session, the therapist might work through some exercises with the learner.
“And the third session would be to set out a program for the parents to continue at home — because speech and occupational therapy doesn’t happen just in one hour, right? It’s constant and ongoing,” Kathy says.
“I’ve known Owen for 20 years now,” says Jennifer, a SelfDesign learning consultant. “We’ve worked together in different education settings, and each time, I see his passion for working with children and teens as well as the deep mutual respect he is able to foster with them.”
She says that, as an occupational therapist, Owen is insightful and collaborative — working with parents and children to create strategies for support that work for the whole family system and increase overall health and well-being.
“A little bit of knowledge can go a long way to changing a child’s life,” Jennifer says. “Owen draws from a deep well of wisdom and experience in his work. I highly recommend his services.”
Several of Jennifer’s learners have also worked with Nicole and her team. Jennifer says Nicole “has a way of making speech sessions fun and engaging while also respecting the individual needs of the child that I admire. Nicole and her team work with families to adapt sessions in ways that work for each child. It’s a testament to her team’s skills as professionals that all of my learners have looked forward to their sessions with their speech and language pathologist. I recommend Nicole’s services to all families. The online option gives families living remotely a chance to access services which would otherwise be unavailable.”
Who is eligible for therapy sessions?
Owen and Nicole both work through our Support Education Services team, but they support learners from across the school. That includes not just learners who have been diagnosed with learning difficulties and have individual education plans (IEPs) but also learners in SelfDesign’s who aren’t already receiving support services. The learners can also be in any grade.
All that is needed is a referral for therapy by the child’s learning consultant.
“Sometimes the learning consultant may identify a potential need for therapy based on their conversations with the family or the learner,” Kathy says. “Sometimes a parent will bring it to the learning consultant’s attention that their child has a speech problem or a language issue or whatever the issue is, and the learning consultant will tell them, ‘Well, we have these in-house people who may be able to help with this.’”
The learning consultant fills out and submits the referral form. Then the therapist in question contacts the family to set up the meeting.
Three sessions, then what?
If more than three sessions with an in-house therapist are needed, the family can choose to pay for more sessions — possibly covered through extended healthcare available to a parent through their employer. The Support Education Services team will also meet with the therapist to evaluate whether the learning challenge is severe enough to warrant moving the child into the school’s Support Education Services stream, where more resources are available for supporting the learner.
“We’ll take a look to see if there is anything we can do to help the child in the current learning year, and at the very least, they’ll go on the waitlist to be brought into Support Education Services once a spot opens up,” Kathy says. “Often that won’t happen until the following September.”
Learn more about supporting learners at SelfDesign Learning Community:
The role of the learning consultant at SelfDesign Learning Community: Supporting the learner
What you need to consider when enrolling your child
How best to support a learner
How to ensure your child has the specialized learning supports they need once they enrol
Family Services: There to support families and learners on their learning journey
Meet SelfDesign Counsellor Franya Jedwab
