When your child is diagnosed with a neurological condition, it can feel overwhelming and uncertain. Finding a weekly therapy center can provide you and your child with the support and community you need to maximize potential and improve your child’s engagement with the world around them.
At NAPA Centre, we are known for our specialized paediatric therapy programs, offering evidence-based treatments that target neurological rehabilitation tailored specifically to your child’s needs.
What Can You Expect from Your Child’s First Weekly Therapy Session at NAPA?
Understanding the process in advance can help you feel more confident and prepared as you begin your child’s therapy journey. This blog will walk you through what to expect during your child’s first NAPA therapy session, including the intake process, assessment, treatment techniques, and how you can be an active participant in their progress.
1. The Intake Process: Getting to Know Your Child
The first step in your child’s therapy journey at NAPA is the intake process. This phase is all about gathering important information about your child’s medical history, neurological diagnosis, and therapy goals. This information helps your child’s team decide which services may be best for you at this time. You and your child will work closely with a team of specialized paediatric therapists who will carefully evaluate your child’s current abilities and challenges.
Initial Assessment
During the first session, the therapist will ask detailed questions about your child’s medical history, current skills, and any past treatments or therapies. They will likely ask:
- Your child’s diagnosis: What condition or neurological disorder does your child have? Are there specific challenges related to motor function, sensory processing, or cognitive development that the therapists should be aware of?
- Current function: How does your child currently access their environment? Do you have any equipment that you use at home or in school? How does your child communicate their needs and engage with peers?
- Precautions: Does your child have any precautions that may impact their participation in therapies such as seizures, low bone density, hip subluxation, aspiration, or scoliosis?
- Previous therapies and treatments: Has your child undergone other therapies, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy? What was and wasn’t effective?
- Behavioral observations: How does your child respond to physical activities, new experiences, or sensory inputs? What kind of things bring your child joy? What kind of things cause them to feel frustrated?
This process helps the therapists develop a comprehensive understanding of your child’s unique needs, strengths, and challenges. The more information you can provide, the better the therapists can tailor their treatment approach to meet your child’s individual needs.
Physical and Developmental Evaluation
Your child’s therapist will also conduct an assessment during the first session, which will be specific to speech therapy, physiotherapy, or occupational therapy. This may include:
- Movement evaluation: To assess your child’s motor skills, the therapist may ask your child to perform tasks relevant to their current abilities, such as maintaining head positioning, rolling, sitting, or standing. They’ll evaluate things like balance, coordination, range of motion, posture, and muscle strength.
- Sensory assessment: Some children with neurological conditions experience difficulty interpreting the sensory information their body is receiving, which can affect their ability to interact with the world around them. The therapist may assess how your child responds to various sensory stimuli, like touch, sound, or light.
- Cognitive and communication abilities: If relevant, the therapist might also observe how your child communicates and processes information, including how they interact with others, understand directions, and express themselves.
This thorough evaluation allows the therapist to understand your child’s areas of strength and difficulty. It also provides baseline data to measure progress over time.
2. Your Child’s First Treatment Session: Personalized Therapy Begins
Once the assessment is complete, your child’s therapist will begin introducing them to therapeutic activities that are appropriate for their age and current goals. The goal of the first session is to establish trust, build rapport, and introduce the techniques and exercises that will be part of your child’s therapy plan.
Some Examples of Pediatric Therapy Techniques
- Therapeutic play: One of the unique aspects of paediatric therapy is that therapy often involves play-based interventions. For children, play is a natural way to engage with the world, and it can be a fun and effective way to promote physical, sensory, and cognitive development. Expect to see activities like playing with therapy balls, climbing structures, or using toys designed to strengthen fine and gross motor skills.
- Strengthening and motor skills development: Your child’s therapist may introduce exercises that target specific motor skills, such as improving strength, balance, and coordination. Depending on your child’s condition, the therapist may work on exercises that improve posture, motor planning, mobility, gait (walking pattern), or fine motor skills like hand-eye coordination and grasping.
- Neurodevelopmental therapy: Many children with neurological conditions benefit from therapy techniques that focus on building neuroplasticity through repetition of movement patterns, motor planning, and coordination. These therapies are designed to help the brain reorganize and adapt to challenges, encouraging the development of new movement patterns and functional skills.
- Sensory techniques in therapy: For children who have sensory processing difficulties, NAPA therapists may introduce sensory integration techniques, which help children learn to process and respond to sensory information more effectively. This could include activities like swinging, jumping, or playing with different textures to help your child become more comfortable with sensory input.
The First Session Will Be Low-Pressure and Fun
Your child’s first session will likely be low-pressure and focused on building rapport with the therapist. The therapist will aim to make the experience enjoyable for your child, using playful activities and engaging strategies to encourage participation.
NAPA Centre uses an open gym environment, meaning a majority of treatments happen in communal gym spaces.
We do this for a few reasons:
- Community – therapy sessions conducted in a communal space allow for children to interact and engage with peers while also encouraging parents to chat and build relationships with each other
- Collaboration – when therapists working in close proximity, they are able to share ideas, foster creativity, and support one another to provide increased quality of care
- Fun – playing together while working towards individual goals is fun! This may look like scooter board races with peers, pretend snowball fights with your mat neighbors, or group dance parties to celebrate another day of hard work
Although it’s normal for children to feel a bit uncertain or shy in a new environment, the therapist will work hard to create a positive, welcoming atmosphere to help your child feel comfortable.
3. Goal Setting: Collaborating for Your Child’s Success
One of the most important aspects of paediatric therapy at NAPA Centre is the goal-setting process. After the first session, you and the therapist will work together to set realistic, measurable goals for your child’s therapy. These goals will be tailored to your child’s functional goals, diagnosis, and specific needs.
4. At-Home Exercises and Support: A Team Effort
As with any form of therapy, the most significant progress often occurs between sessions. After your child’s first few therapy sessions, the therapist may assign specific exercises or activities to do at home. These exercises are often simple but crucial for reinforcing the skills your child is working on in therapy.
What to Expect from Home Exercises
- Simple motor tasks: These could include strengthening exercises, functional play in new positions, or activities that help improve balance and coordination.
- Sensory activities: If sensory integration is part of your child’s treatment plan, you may be given fun activities like playing with different textures, spinning, or providing deep pressure to help your child feel more comfortable.
- Communication strategies: Your speech therapist may provide specific strategies to help your child communicate including ways to facilitate choice making, engaging with peers, and expression thoughts and feelings.
5. Building a Long-Term Partnership: Continuous Support and Progress
Pediatric therapy at NAPA Centre is a long-term partnership between you, your child, and the therapy team. It’s important to communicate openly with your child’s therapist about your concerns, progress, and any challenges you encounter along the way. Your child’s treatment plan will be adjusted as needed, and the therapy team will provide ongoing support to help your child achieve their fullest potential.
The first therapy session is just the beginning of a journey that will evolve as your child grows and develops.
Over time, your child will build new skills, gain confidence, and work toward reaching their milestones, with the dedicated support of NAPA’s expert therapists.
About NAPA Centre
NAPA Centre is a global leader in paediatric therapy. We offer a multidisciplinary approach integrating physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapy. With clinics throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, we aim to bring hope to families worldwide by providing access to the best and most innovative therapies all under one roof.
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