What is Educational Therapy?

Edutherapy

List of Services Provided

  • One-to-one private sessions – either at school, online, or in home – are offered within the San Diego area (including La Jolla) for a fee.
  • Interpretation of formal psycho-educational reports that have been made – including a breakdown of learning strengths and diagnoses.
  • Official reports can be made using information collected from educational assessments and/or information collected from teachers, schools, parents or other consulted professionals.
  • Collaboration with allied professionals (learning specialists, classroom teachers, administrators, therapists, doctors) to provide timely feedback and comprehensive support to the student.
  • Certified Wilson® Reading System instruction, which is based on the Orton Gillingham approach. It is used as an intensive Tier-3 intervention using a structured multisensory curriculum for struggling students who need to improve reading comprehension and spelling.
  • Educational assessments (non-cognitive) to record current developmental and academic skills, defining strengths and what is left to learn. The findings from these assessments (and interpretations) can then be summarized into a brief report for the family.
  • Individual, detailed learning profiles can help define learning goals, suggested classroom modifications, academic scaffolding, or strategies for home and school.
Edutherapy

Educational Assessment

Educational Therapists are trained in administering educational (non-cognitive) assessments. 
These evaluate and measure specific subskills necessary for successful performances within the school classroom.

1

Math Computation and Reasoning Skills PAL-II Math

The FAM 2 is a tool to help examine specific subtypes of dyscalculia.

2

Written Expression (TOWL-4)

Test of Written Language is a way ti evaluate a student’s written compositions.

3

Visual-Motor Skills (Beery VMI 6)

The Beery VMI evaluates the developmental coordination between hand and eyes.

Client Testimonials

What Our Clients Are Saying

Hear firsthand accounts of healing and positive change.

“Ms. O’Brien is one of the most dedicated professionals in education I have encountered. She earned my daughter’s trust and became an instant mentor/support allied professional and coach to our child.”

Margarita Wilkinson
Wed Feb 03 2021

“Ms. O’Brien not only helped me with my work but also organizing it and getting it done more efficiently. She also took the time to make me a digital planner, study guide, and even a weekend plan. Ms O’Brien is a dedicated teacher and she is very helpful.”

Alex Wornovitzky

“I really liked to have a plan ready to go for the week because it was able to take a lot of stress away.”

Eric Lillie
Fri Apr 30 2021

“I was struggling with school and she helped me twice a week. Ms. O’Brien made very helpful study/worksheets to help me. We met for 30 minutes and after each session I felt better on whatever we worked on. She also helped me about planning. She made suggestions on when to do school work to help me feel less stressed. I would really recommend Ms. O’Brien as a support. She’s a great teacher and a great person.”

Cooper Tweeten
Wed Feb 03 2021

“She was always putting a lot of work into helping me, making me a schedule, and helping me study. I loved working with her!!”

Stella Wahl
Grade 7 Student, San Diego

“She was always there to help with any problems or questions on my wriiten work and she showed me an excellent new way to plan my time!”

Janie Linnard
Sat May 01 2021

“She was very nice and understanding.”

Bryce Parker
Sun May 02 2021

Help center

Questions and Answers

Find answers to the most commonly asked questions about our services.

The educational therapist will want to meet you or the client and collect some information. The first few sessions are usually performing a variety of educational assessments and tasks to collect data and behavioral observations. These are assessments that will inform the learning plan. A formal summary report will be made using information collected during the first few sessions. All medical history and data should be disclosed during the intake process, including previous testing.

If needed, and ET can include for parents and the school a letter to suggest any useful classroom modifications, learning tools, or strategies. Regular meetings or interviews with other professionals involved in the treatment alliance can be held monthly.

Rebecca has extensive experience working with children aged 6+ to improve reading skills, spelling, and self-confidence as a learner. Clients typically have attentional, language-based, or other learning difficulties.

Example 1: For those struggling with executive function, twice-a-week sessions might be recommended for creating and monitoring systems of organization and other skills.

Example 2: Tier 3 Interventions for dyslexic students ideally looks like 3-5 sessions per week (150-200 minutes) of intensive practice of decoding and encoding sounds and words using the Wilson Reading System. This curriculum uses the Orton-Gillingham approach with a structured curriculum and lesson plan. Within a year, a student can progress on average three grade levels (both in reading ability and spelling to match). Within two years a student usually can progress up to six grade levels in terms of oral reading fluency, decoding and matching encoding skills.

Example 3: Some dysgraphic students do benefit from using the Wilson curriculum into a third year, to reach higher education levels for encoding.

For math interventions to work for those with language-based learning issues, it needs to be experiential and practiced frequently. A learning plan in the school setting might include specific goals that target foundational number sense, math reasoning, and math fact fluency.

Tutors have subject matter expertise in specific academic areas, like reading, grammar, writing, spelling, or math. Tutors mainly preview and reteach concepts taught in school for reinforcement; they help students prepare for tests and impart study skills specific within a particular core discipline. Tutors often do not have the formal educational training to understand how emotional, behavioral, social, physical factors may be impacting a learner’s ability to process, retain, or apply academic content and skills.

Educational therapists have subject matter expertise (many are former classroom teachers), but also have advanced training in structured learning modalities (such as Wilson) that are designed for those with unique cognitive profiles. ETs are trained to work directly with the challenges that come with having a learning difficulty – such as dyslexia, sensory processing issues, executive functioning deficits, or delayed language development. Work done in sessions complements the academic objectives of school; however, the ET goes more in-depth with the individual to also examine/explain the way they think or behave while performing academic tasks and to teach them hacks.

Rebecca holds private sessions in clients’ homes, in quiet shared spaces (library/office), or in the school setting. She usually works with families within the central San Diego area. Some older students work with her remotely due to scheduling issues.

Educational therapists set goals that are measurable academic skills that can be charted over time. Usually learning plans are designed for 3-month intervals, but last from several months to several years until the client is independently performing for their age.

Rebecca O’Brien charges an hourly rate for all her services, prorated for time. One professional hour is considered 50 minutes, with 10 minutes of planning. This fee increases slightly every fiscal new year to adjust for rising costs of inflation.