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Occupational therapy is a type of health care that helps to solve the problems that interfere with a person’s ability to do the things that are important to them – everyday things like: (CAOT.ca)
An occupational therapist will assess the client’s ability (mental health, cognitive / perceptual, physical), environment (home, school, work), and what they want to do (play, school, work) and create goals to treat each of these areas.
A pediatric occupational therapist helps children reach important developmental milestones that help them engage in activities they want to do and need to do.
Foundational cognitive, perceptual, and affective skills are required in academics (reading, writing, and math). However, some children have specific learning disabilities which hinder these foundational building blocks and require assistance from therapy to develop them. The student finds it difficult to integrate their current abilities, the demands of the school work, and the physical school environment to have success.
As an occupational therapist, I can assess the child’s cognitive, perceptual and current academic skills (and when required, the school demands), and use NILD Educational Therapy® to build and improve their foundations to help them succeed. The goals in NILD assist students to develop tools for independent learning in the classroom and in life. Read more on our Services page.
“Learning Disabilities” refers to a variety of disorders that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organization or use of verbal and/or non-verbal information. These disorders result from impairments in one or more psychological processes related to learning (a), in combination with otherwise average abilities essential for thinking and reasoning. Learning disabilities are specific not global impairments and as such are distinct from intellectual disabilities.
Learning disabilities range in severity and invariably interfere with the acquisition and use of one or more of the following important skills:
Learning disabilities may also cause difficulties with organizational skills, social perception and social interaction.
The impairments are generally life-long. However, their effects may be expressed differently over time, depending on the match between the demands of the environment and the individual’s characteristics. Some impairments may be noted during the pre-school years, while others may not become evident until much later. During the school years, learning disabilities are suggested by unexpectedly low academic achievement or achievement that is sustainable only by extremely high levels of effort and support.
Learning disabilities are due to genetic, other congenital and/or acquired neuro-biological factors. They are not caused by factors such as cultural or language differences, inadequate or inappropriate instruction, socio-economic status or lack of motivation, although any one of these and other factors may compound the impact of learning disabilities. Frequently learning disabilities co-exist with other conditions, including attentional, behavioral and emotional disorders, sensory impairments or other medical conditions.
For success, persons with learning disabilities require specialized interventions in home, school, community and workplace settings, appropriate to their individual strengths and needs, including:
(a) The term “psychological processes” describes an evolving list of cognitive functions. To date, research has focused on functions such as:
– Directly from Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario (https://www.ldao.ca/introduction-to-ldsadhd/what-are-lds/official-definition-of-lds/)
Potential students for this program are those experiencing obvious frustration in areas of school performance. Poor spelling, illegible handwriting, inability to express thoughts verbally or in writing, and difficulty with reading and math are common indicators of a learning disability.
Strategies learned in educational therapy should enable students to remain independent and successful throughout their school years. Learning disabilities can be addressed whenever they are identified, not just in childhood. The NILD techniques are effective regardless of age and can be adapted to all levels of functioning. NILD is an approved International Dyslexia Association and is one for the few Canadian approved therapies (see https://www.idaontario.com/structured-literacy-training/).
Learning disabilities are diagnosed through a battery of tests that measures and compares students’ potential with their actual performance, most often by a psychologist. As an occupational therapist I can use a variety of assessments, along with the reports of the psychologist, to determine specific issues that hinder school activities and when it is appropriate to refer to another specialist.
Having a psychoeducational report from a qualified psychologist is encouraged and does assist in determining very specific educational therapy intervention. I can work in conjunction with other qualified examiners (speech and language pathologist, social worker, psychologist etc.) and can assist parents in locating these.
Students complete their therapy programs when they become independent and successful in the regular classroom. This decision is based upon recommendations from the educational therapist, parents, and classroom teachers and usually takes a minimum of three years.
Learning disabilities are often neurobiological and alter the individual cognitive and perceptual processes of a person. The focus of NILD Educational Therapy® is the development of clear, efficient thinking. Students will begin to feel confident in how they personally are able to identify, organize, and interpret all types of academic / school information. Students are given tools to enable them to overcome specific learning weaknesses they identify as hurting their ability to learn and which lie in cognitive and perceptual processes.
Tutoring typically focuses on content specific to classes, courses, or curriculum. Although Educational Therapy utilizes correct and explicit educational content, the approach and techniques of the therapy builds efficient learning cognitive and perceptual (as well as affective and non-cognitive) processes. NILD Educational Therapy® teaches students how to think rather than what to think. NILD Educational Therapy® is skill-oriented and improves basic learning skills so students can learn and retain content.
For example, if a student has dyslexia and attentional issues, and their goal is to become proficient in reading and writing, NILD therapy will assist the student to
Here are some examples of how NILD therapy works:
(1) NILD therapy passes the International Dyslexia Association’s rigorous and comprehensive approach to literacy instruction https://www.idaontario.com/structured-literacy-training/. NILD is one of only two approach that have this status.
(2) Improved passage comprehension, applied problem solving, improved writing after NILD therapy https://nildcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Examining-the-Effectiveness-of-Educational-Therapy.pdf
(3) Exceeding reading and writing within general education: http://www.nild.org/pdf/research.pdf
(4) Statistically significant gains over time in cognition and achievement on standardized measures: https://nildcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/KH-Dissertation_abridged.pdf
(5) Statistically significant gains in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency https://nild.org/pdf/Analysis-of-Rx_Stanley.pdf
(6) How cursive writing builds learning processes https://nildcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ryff-Dissertation.pdf
(7) NILD is endorsed by the Feuerstein Institute https://www.icelp.info/
See the results of NILD therapy! NILD Canada has 2023 survey results of what students and their parents are saying about this approach:
Parents are seeing results: Parents noted that their child has a secure relationship with the therapist, their children are engaged and focused in therapy. The parents see their child is becoming self-aware of their abilities and are confident at school and they say they believe that NILD therapy is an integral part of their child’s emotional and social development.
Students say: They are prepared when they go to the therapy appointment, they see they are improving in their academic skills, and showing growth mindset about school.
NILD therapy survey results: https://nildcanada.org/research/survey-results/
Northern Educational Therapy will take initial measurement of specific academic and learning processes at the beginning of therapy and quarterly re-administer these to ensure therapy is targeting goals. At the end of the year (32-36 weeks) a full re-evaluation of measures will be completed and a report provided to show overall yearly improvement to compare.
NILD Educational Therapy is administered by trained therapists who are passionate about helping children learn. They are committed to providing support and encouragement as they direct their students through the learning process. Each therapist has countless hours of experience working with children and is given supervision and direction from NILD Canada. As therapists, we are dedicated to bringing out the best in your child, starting right where they’re at and helping them achieve new goals, one step at a time. However, parent testimonials and success stories of students having completed the program speak for themselves. Many are achieving honor roll status and are pursuing undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees.
Mon | 09:00 a.m. – 04:00 p.m. | |
Tue | 09:00 a.m. – 04:00 p.m. | |
Wed | 09:00 a.m. – 04:00 p.m. | |
Thu | 09:00 a.m. – 04:00 p.m. | |
Fri | 09:00 a.m. – 04:00 p.m. | |
Sat | Closed | |
Sun | Closed |