Integrated therapeutic services for children and young peoplewith special needs

Abstract

The objective was to determine the effectiveness of the offered services to children and youth with special needs in psychology, occupational therapy and speech-language areas in the context of a communitybased project. The research used the concurrent multi-method approach. A sample of 24 randomly selected files from all disciplines was assessed. To gain the data from the files, two templates (clinical and school-related) were designed. The results included that the area most often used was the occupational therapy with 79,2 %, the psychological therapy with 54,2 %, the speech-language therapy with 37,5 % and creative expression with 16,7 %. Regarding to the specialists participation in the discussions of cases, 45,8 % were in the area of psychology, 29,2 % in occupational therapy, 12,5 % in speechlanguage and 4,2 % in creative expression. The study reached 85 % of therapeutic goals and allowed that 52 % of the participants show an increase in their school performance. Some conclusions are: 1) the therapeutic goals of the project for each of the interventions were met; 2) even though some therapists were replaced there was consistency in the therapeutic progress; 3) there is a need to reevaluate the weight of the psychosocial aspects as factors that facilitate or hinders therapy, and 4) we confirm the need to change from a prevention model to a perspective of reinvigoration for the development of such projects.