Coordinating Private Therapy With School
By: Becca Phillips, Advocate
Whether your child receives private speech therapy, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), counseling, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), executive functioning coaching, or specialized tutoring outside of the school setting, you naturally want all of the adults supporting your child to work as a cohesive team. Coordinating private providers with a school system can often feel overwhelming and daunting, especially when each of those private therapies operate under different rules, schedules, and expectations with goals that may differ from one another.
With the right structures in place, you can absolutely create strong collaboration between private therapists and the school based team that benefits your child academically, socially, and emotionally as well. We know that children are going to make the most progress when the strategies they are being taught are used across settings at home, in therapy, and at school. Coordination among outside services and in school supports helps to:
Reinforce consistent skills and expectations across settings
Reduce confusion or mixed messages
Allow outside therapists to tailor approaches to school demands
Help teachers understand your child’s tools, supports, and learning styles that work to support their needs
Ensure IEP goals reflect real needs across settings
Below are steps you can take to begin initiating the coordination of outside private therapies with school.
Step 1: Obtain Permission and Consent from the Parent/Guardian
Schools cannot talk with your child's private providers without your written, signed consent. The parent or guardian must fill out and sign a Release of Information (ROI) form, which can often be obtained from either the school or the private provider. You may also see other similar forms, such as a Consent to Exchange Information form and/or a FERPA-compliant authorization form. Regardless, there are a few key components to the form providing consent. It must clearly state:
Who (name of therapist or company/agency) the school may communicate with
What information may be shared
Why/the purpose (of) the information is being shared
The duration of how long the consent is valid
It is also beneficial to have a statement that consent can be revoked at any time by the family
Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), parents can specify what information can be shared, such as: school based evaluations, IEP goals and services, progress reports, Behavior Intervention Plans, health/medical information relevant to school functioning, and accommodations.
Step 2: Schedule a Coordination Meeting and Establish Communication
Whether you choose to meet virtually, in person, or through email, once permission has been provided, it is helpful to establish a communication plan moving forward. It can be helpful to arrange a meeting that includes the parent/guardian, service providers at the school, outside private therapists, and classroom teacher in order to align strategies and share information related to skills being taught, observation notes, targeted goals, behavior or sensory needs and challenges, etc.
Make a plan as a team on how information will be exchanged and what communication will look like moving forward. This may be through monthly or quarterly email check-ins, a shared communication notebook or log, progress reports, or video conferencing check-ins. Consistency in communication is pivoltal between key stakeholders.
Step 3: Ensure Goals are Aligned
Private therapy goals and school based goals are naturally going to differ because they may serve different purposes. Private therapy goals will address clinical needs, whereas school goals are likely going to relate to functional performance in the educational environment. The 2 sets of goals will likely compliment each other but won’t necessarily be exactly the same. For example, a private speech therapist may be working solely on articulation whereas a school SLP may be working on the same articulation concerns but also working on expressive language goals. It’s important to understand the focus of each so that there continues to be alignment and understanding.
Step 4: Remember to Celebrate Wins and Revisit When Needed
Coordination works best when the team as a whole acknowledges what is going well and shares student success over time. Student needs can be ever changing, thus the team may need to plan to revisit their collaboration, goals, and strategies every few months. Update one another when appropriate, celebrate progress, and adjust expectations as needed. Small wins and progress is still progress worth celebrating and its ok when updates or changes need to occur!
Final Thoughts:
Coordination between private outside therapies and school based services does not need to be complicated. Talk with your outside therapist and child's teacher or case manager and ask questions to seek guidance if you aren’t sure how to initiate this process and get the ball rolling.
When a team has consistent and clear communication, shared goals and hopes, and a respectful approach through a unified support system, your child is only going to benefit more. Each of these settings are going to have dedicated professionals who provide their own expertise and genuine desire to help your child. Bridging those worlds together is often completed through the parents' guidance, especially initially. You as parents play a powerful role in coordinating collaboration and providing consistency for growth. Remember, there is power in solid partnerships.
