Practising members of AETS work in the educational domain with children, adolescents and adults who have been diagnosed by appropriately qualified professionals with, or who exhibit learning disorders, learning difficulties or learning differences.
Educational therapists are skilled in:
The functions below are exercised progressively across membership tiers. See “Scope by Membership Tier” below:
• Administering formal standardised instruments and informal educational assessments for which they are trained;
• Performing differential assessment to distinguish primary from secondary learning issues;
• Interpreting assessment results and synthesising information from families, teachers and allied professionals;
• Determining the functional impact of learning differences on classroom and examination performance;
• Preparing Exam Access Arrangement reports and recommending special accommodations in the classroom;
• Developing and implementing intensive, individualised intervention programmes;
• Addressing the academic, cognitive and socio-emotional aspects of learning;
• Collaborating with families, schools and other professionals and advocating on behalf of the learner.
Qualified educational therapists may purchase and administer specialised standardised instruments (subject to publisher qualification requirements and appropriate training). These include tools related to autism spectrum characteristics (ASD), attention and executive function (ADHD), reading and written language difficulties (dyslexia and its subtypes), and other neurodevelopmental or learning differences.
Educational therapists do not:
• Diagnose medical or psychiatric conditions (unless they hold additional qualifications that specifically permit them to do so);
• Administer psychological tests (unless they hold additional qualifications that specifically permit them to do so);
• Practise psychotherapy; or
• Prescribe medication.
Educational therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention. Educational therapists work collaboratively with other allied health professionals, including occupational therapists, speech-language therapists, psychologists and medical healthcare practitioners, to provide coordinated support for individuals with learning and developmental needs.
The role titles below (interventionist, assessor and diagnostician) do not refer to psychological or medical practice. Each tier includes the functions of the tier before it.
Associate Educational Therapist: Interventionist
• Reviews and interprets case histories and assessment reports from qualified professionals and earlier assessments.
• Uses informal assessment and progress monitoring.
• Prepares and delivers individualised intervention plans (IIPs) addressing the academic, cognitive and socio-emotional aspects of learning.
• Collaborates with families, schools and allied professionals and advocates on behalf of the learner.
• Practises under the supervision of a Professional or Fellow member, or within limits defined by the Association.
Professional Educational Therapist: Assessor
• In addition to the above, administers, scores and interprets the formal standardised and informal educational assessments for which they are trained and qualified.
• Performs differential assessment to distinguish primary from secondary learning issues.
• Determines the functional impact of learning differences on classroom and examination performance.
• Writes assessment reports, contributes to evaluations, and revises intervention programmes based on assessment findings.
• May prepare Exam Access Arrangement reports and recommend special classroom accommodations under the countersignature of a Fellow member.
Fellow Educational Therapist: Diagnostician
• In addition to the above, decides on the appropriate tools and approaches for each case, within the limits of their training and publisher qualification requirements.
• Synthesises data from standardised instruments and informal sources into a critical analysis.
• Leads and signs off evaluation and profiling reports, including Exam Access Arrangement reports, and recommends accommodations.
• Develops and oversees Individualised Intervention Plans (IIPs) and delivers intensive individualised educational therapy.
• Supervises and mentors Associate and Professional members and countersigns their reports where required.
Practising educational therapists do not diagnose medical or psychiatric conditions unless they hold additional qualifications that specifically permit them to do so.
Copyright © the respective authors. Published by the Association of Educational Therapists (Singapore) under CC BY 4.0.
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