I have seen time and again across many homes in UAE, that parents are spending a lot of resources in providing the gambit of services recommended for their child ( eg, ABA, Special Education, Play therapy, OT, Speech etc),but there seems to be hardly any collaboration or communication between all the adults working with the child.
This leads to a lot of frustration and slows down the progress. Parents and the child end up being confused due to various protocols and goals and effort seems to be going astray. 

What should be done?

• Find or bring together a team of adults who are willing to collaborate, communicate, share and learn from each other.
• Formulate an Individual Treatment Plan (ITP) which must be agreed upon in regard to ALL skill areas.
• Each specific expert in their area can create goals within their areas and share them with others.
• There should be regular collaboration regarding treatment protocol, strategies and materials.
• A joint meeting of all adults involved in the child’s progress must be held at least every three months.

The Parent is usually the BEST person to lead this process. If the parent feels overwhelmed with the process, they can appoint one of the team members as a team coordinator or approach service providers who have a team based protocol for home and school therapy programs.

If not done collaboratively, the treatment may have few positive results but it will certainly not be at the same rate as it would be upon a collaborative team effort.

This is the ONLY way forward for your child.

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