Get ready to channel your inner chameleon!

I made this website in hopes of sharing intervention ideas, resources, and strategies for other therapists working with children.  However there is something I feel very passionate about that I must share with you too.

There is danger in “prescribing” interventions.

This phrase was a small seed planted in my brain at the beginning of graduate school (Thanks Dr. King!). It continues to sprout and grow deeper every year as I see its value within all of my therapeutic experiences.

Every client is very different and we must take into account those differences when we are sharing intervention ideas. When you do find an intervention that may work for a few of your clients, that’s wonderful!!! We all know that we can’t use completely different interventions for every single client, every day. We would burnout in a month!

However it is so important for us to adapt our interventions to fit our clients needs and not simply apply interventions.

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Adaptations can include so many things and it’s important for us to think through these are we share interventions with each other. They can include the following:

  • Adapting our own therapeutic presentation/style
  • Using different instruments that are more appropriate for the client (sensory/physical/communicative needs)
  • Choosing a different accompaniment instrument (or lack thereof)
  • Adding different sections to the original content (think ABA/ABC/ABCDA song structures) to make the intervention more or less complicated
  • Changes in tempo
  • Adapting directives to fit the clients needs
  • Changing lyrics to be more age appropriate
  • Creating new strumming/rhythmic patterns to accompany the music
  • And so many more!!!
Something I think is helpful for me is following an acronym. They are simple, easy to remember, and make adapting interventions less stressful and intensive.  So you can ask yourself, does my intervention pass the FAKER test?

F.A.K.E.R.

  1. Do I have a client who is working towards a similar goal? Fit
  2. How can I adapt this goal for my specific clients? Adaptability
  3. What is the key element of this intervention that motivates the client (it can be different for everyone!) Key Element
  4. Do I know why this intervention works? Evidence- Based Practice
  5. Changes after implementation—- Re-assessment and Expansion
What other types of adaptions have you used with interventions you have found? Does this acronym help you with your work? I’d LOVE to hear from you!
Kate

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