Therapy services

The professions that comprise the therapy and psychology services work to support students attending St Piers School, St Piers College and Assessment and Rehabilitation centre. The teams work within the Young Epilepsy multidisciplinary framework to support each student’s individual needs. A range of interventions is available, depending on needs assessed before arrival or during a student’s stay.

Psychology services include Educational Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology, Play Specialist and Play Therapy.

The psychology team assesses cognitive and adaptive skills and provides advice on student’s learning profiles and learning needs. The team also assesses emotional and psychological wellbeing and can provide psychotherapeutic input and therapeutic play as required. Input in the form of behavioural functional assessments and behavior management guidelines is also provided for students who present with behavioural issues.

Therapy services include Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language Therapy. The team also co-ordinates clinics run by visiting Dietetics, Orthotics, Audiology, Hearing and Visual support specialists.

Therapists assess, support and advise on independence skills, sensory processing difficulties, gross and fine motor skills, specialist equipment, mobility, safety, communication and swallowing difficulties.

Facilities available, where appropriate for a student, include Aquatrainer, Rebound therapy, Sensory Integration sessions, RDA horse-riding sessions, in-house clinics for helmets and spinal monitoring and trials of Voice Output Communication Aids.

Students are encouraged to take an active role in their therapy and to request advice at any time. Parents and staff can also make a referral on a student’s behalf. Staff have an important role in carrying out therapy programmes and following behaviour management plans to provide a consistent approach to help students meet their goals. Therapists regularly offer in-service training to support education and residential staff in their work.