Therapy is often a major part of an IEP -- what kind your child gets, how long, how often, and to what good effect. Therapists have to submit specific and measurable goals to account for the time they spend with your child, and they're supposed to be at the IEP meeting to discuss and haggle over that. This can be tricky, though, if the therapist's time is divided between different schools, or if the therapist is an employee of an outside agency with specific time allotments. Or if, you know, the therapist is supposed to be working with some other demanding parent's child at that particular time.
The therapists in question aren't concerned with your child's psychological state -- that would be the school psychologist's field of interest, and maybe the school counselor's. These therapists are more concerned with how your child speaks, understands, and moves. And technically, they can only be concerned with those things inasmuch as they affect schoolwork. Of all the professionals you'll meet, these may be the ones who play games with your children the most and with you the least.
The Speech Therapist: The speech therapist works with your child on receptive and expressive language. In clear language, what that means is that what your child understands of what people tell him, how she is able to make that understanding clear, and how she is able to make her own self understood are all within the speech therapist's area of interest. This includes both types of articulation -- the proper production of speech sounds, and the proper forming of thoughts into words. Be sure all your concerns for your child's language usage and understanding are being addressed, not just her ability to move lips and tongue properly.
The Physical Therapist (PT): The physical therapist works on your child's gross motor skills -- no, not the ability to burp impressively or spit across the room, but the movement of major muscle groups to make big movements like walking, running, catching a ball or kicking it. Once your child is in school, there may be a particular emphasis on skills that enable a student to make it untroubled through a school day, like walking without jumping or flapping, participating in gym class, or carrying a lunch tray or a binder. You should listen to the goals set by the PT and make sure they're meaningful to your child's life and priorities.
The Occupational Therapist (OT): As the PT looks at gross motor, the OT deals with fine motor skills, those small precise movements we all take for granted and our kids can't do if you paid them. Things like printing and handwriting clearly. Tying shoes. Coloring in the lines. Turning a combination lock. Did I mention printing and handwriting clearly? The occupational therapist will, and writing is likely one of the things that will pop up in OT goals. If your school therapist happens to be trained in sensory integration therapy, you may be able to have some of that calming, organizing activity written into your child's plan as well. It will have to be undertaken in a way that makes it important to schooling, however. (Like being able to remain seated, or keep from disrupting the class.)
Working Out With the Therapists
Staying in close contact with your child's therapists can have all sorts of benefits. They can give you suggestions of ways to work with your child at home. They can pass on materials and resources that can be useful in strategizing your own IEP proposals. And they can tell you really sweet stories about your kid.
The fact that therapists are often not employed by the district but by private agencies means they may be less available for things like meetings, but they're also less tied in to district politics and proprieties. Build up a good relationship, and you might get some good gossip.
