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My Child Seems Burnt Out From Therapy – Should I Take a Break?

Asking a child to attend therapy sessions is beyond the norm for the usual childhood routine of playing, attending school, and participating in sports. This is especially true for the child who may need therapy in more than one area (e.g., Speech, OT, PT). However, if the therapy was not essential to the child’s welfare and development, he/she wouldn’t be here.

Here at LLA Therapy, we strive to make our therapy sessions fun, as well as targeted to our goal of improving your child’s abilities. As enticing as our sessions may be, sometimes children experience “therapy burn out”. A sign may be that the child resists coming to the therapy appointment. If this is the case, please alert your therapist, as he/she can help sort out the issue and make suggestions. At times, the child may complain of coming to therapy, simply because he/she would rather be playing with friends or chilling out at home (Don’t we all want to do that?!). For those children, they are usually just fine during the sessions. For certain children (especially grade-school age or older), the prospect of “graduating” from therapy can be just the motivation needed to work hard (especially on homework assignments) in order to shorten the therapy process.


For other children who may be showing resistance to therapy, following are some of the different things to consider:


Does the child still require the same amount of therapy? 


While a child may need more therapy when starting the process, it is possible that improvement has reduced the need for as much frequency. For some children, going to a less-frequent schedule (e.g., every other week to weekly) may work well, but for others, there may be the chance of regression. Your therapist can help you decide if a reduction in services is a good option for your child. 

Are other factors affecting your child’s willingness to attend sessions? 


For example, therapy may be scheduled too close to your young child’s nap time, or your older child
may be too tired from school and sports practice to attend a later session. If this is the case, please talk to the therapy team including the scheduler and your therapist, so that they can find a more suitable time for your child.

When the first two factors have been considered, is there a Plan B, C, D, or E?


In other words, we therapists have a lot of options in our bags of tricks! There are different approaches, techniques, and activities we can use to motivate a child. We are trained to recognize when something is not working for a child and can try a number of different ideas. We have a wonderful staff of therapists who collaborate with one another, so the possibilities of what we can do to help your child are endless! As always, please speak with your therapist (or any other staff member) if you are not happy with any aspect of our services. We want to know, as we always want to make things better for our families!

What do I get in return? 


Since the therapy process is a challenging one for some children, especially those with more significant needs, a little reinforcement may be a good thing! It may be as simple as getting a little treat after a session or as elaborate as using a chore chart to keep track of home practice and therapy attendance. Your child may want to work toward a bigger reward by earning a certain number of stars, stickers or points for practicing and attending therapy. This will teach your child early on the 
value of working hard to achieve a goal.

Give me a break! 


When all else has failed, sometimes children do need a break from therapy. At our center, we refer to this as a “clinical vacation”. Your therapist may make a suggestion as to how long a break your child can withstand before it becomes detrimental to his/her progress. Many factors are considered when taking a clinical vacation, such as the child’s current needs, age, and family support. Insurance and/or
scholarship factors may also dictate the length and feasibility of taking a break, so 
consulting with your therapy team may help answer some of these questions. 

The bottom line is that we want to make the therapy process work for you and your child. Please let us know how we can help!

 

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Patient Reviews

LLA Therapy

Patient Reviews

Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

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My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

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My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

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My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

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I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

Victoria Hansford-Price

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We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

Laura Lee Hogsett

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They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

Amy Furukawa

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We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

Jessica Havalotti

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!
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