Hello Parent,
Do you have questions regarding services at Prayatna? Hope our FAQ answers all your questions. But should you have a query that is not answered here, never hesitate to call our team. Alternatively, you can post your question here and our team will respond to your query without delay.
As a parent, it is quite normal to ponder if your child will outgrow the difficulties or will need therapy. We understand it totally. If you are a parent spending most of your time with the child, concerns may be well-grounded and it is recommended to seek professional help and clear the doubts without delay.
At Prayatna, all professionals are qualified and experienced in their fields and will be using standardized tests to evaluate your child. A comprehensive evaluation may be needed if your child is slow or not meeting age appropriate developmental milestones such as crawling, sitting, standing etc.
No age is too early!
We start therapy from the first month if the child’s condition warrants it. First month program usually involves feeding positioning and encouraging appropriate stimulation to develop baby’s sucking and swallowing skills. Research has proven that early intervention can make a significant difference in developing skills. If you have any concern regarding your child’s development at any age, feel free to contact us for more information.
Assessment is the process by which therapists gather background information, identify your child’s strengths and skill deficits by administration of assessment tests, clinical observation and parent/caregiver interview.
Therapist collects necessary background information from parents. Details such as child’s likes and strengths, family history, language background, prenatal-perinatal-postnatal developments, record of developmental milestones(ages at which your child started doing certain activities like crawling, sitting, standing, walking, first speech sounds etc) are important for understanding child’s prevailing condition.
During assessment, therapists may assess,
Depending on the child’s presenting problems and parental concerns, therapists from different disciplines focus their evaluation on specific areas related to their discipline to assess child’s current skills and skill needs.
We do assessment for children of all age groups. Assessment for children below 7 years involves evaluation of their play skills, social skills and other general aspects of the child. For children above 14 years, we provide multiple intelligence and aptitude tests to help them choose the most suitable path for continuing education in the fields they are innately adept at.
At Prayatna, initial assessment lasts for 45-90 minutes. Depending on the child’s presenting problems, parental concerns and consent, this may be followed by multi-disciplinary assessment individually or as a team that may last for 45-60 minutes each.
Duration of assessment may sometime vary depending on child’s condition, age, ability to follow instructions, attention span etc. In some cases, assessment may be ongoing due to various factors and therapy program is initiated after discussion with parents.
Assessment, observation and goal setting may take around 3-5 sessions in total. This is essentially the time required for your child to get to know the therapist and the environment. At Prayatna, our therapists set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reliable and Time-bound) in consultation with parents. This paves way for the most practical therapy program.
It is necessary that both parents make themselves available during assessment. However, this may be exempted if you are a single parent. Due to unavoidable circumstances, if one or both the parents are abroad and not able to participate in the assessment process, therapy program at Prayatna can be initiated after an online meeting with both parents.
Please note that assessment includes background information gathering and various tests. Discussion with both parents helps get clear knowledge of your child’s condition from all aspects. This helps in planning the most appropriate therapy program for your child.
At Prayatna, we work with parents/caregiver during the whole assessment process and throughout our therapy program. This creates a team approach and provides a clear understanding of the complete process to parents/caregiver.
P.S.
We consider every child has a right to dignity and we prefer not to discuss child’s difficulties or problems in the child’s presence. We request you to abstain from talking about your child’s problems in his/her presence during assessment. Bringing someone who can take care of your child during parent/caregiver discussion will facilitate expressing all parental concerns peacefully.
Depending on requirement, evaluating therapist/s will provide a written report after completion of assessment. However, if your child’s condition mandates comprehensive evaluation by multiple therapists from different disciplines, then a consolidated report will be provided within 2 weeks from the date of completion of all assessments.
Yes. The report can be shared with your child’s school. But, if you are submitting the report for any specific purpose, you may inform our team beforehand the reason for assessment report and our team will provide the report with requisite details after completion of assessment.
Yes. It is important for parents to participate in therapy sessions and we insist on parent/caregiver participation in all sessions. This helps the parent to see in real time therapy exercises and techniques. Parent participation includes in-room therapy participation, out-of-room observation and following home activities as suggested by therapists.
However, if parents are not available, caregiver should actively participate in therapy sessions and parents are requested to meet the therapist/s once every week. Parents who reside abroad shall talk to child’s therapists online once every month. This will help parents to get a clear understanding of therapy plan and progress.
Duration of therapy cannot be predicted. It depends largely on the age, severity of the problem, underlying medical condition and treatment, frequency of therapy and quality of practice.
Pattern, rate of development and improvement varies from child to child. In general, therapy program varies from few weeks to several months. These programs are reviewed in 1-3 month intervals for analysing progress.
All our treatments are designed to take care of the specific needs of the individual child. Our treatment may involve exercises and different activities. Treatments are usually play based and this makes our sessions interesting. Treatment occurs in individual rooms or large spaces depending on your child’s needs.
Parent/caregiver is the co-therapist at Prayatna. As a parent, you become an integral part of treatment and our therapists will train and guide you on each activity for continuing practice at home. Your active involvement and commitment plays a vital role in your child’s therapy success.
At Prayatna, children receive 45 minutes therapy session which may vary from 1- 5 sessions a week.
Currently we do not have residential programs.
For the convenience of long distance clients who need assistance for local accommodation, our Support Service offers help to find accommodation in the close proximity of our centre depending on availability. For any further information or assistance on the support services, feel free to contact our team.
Team Prayatna gives utmost priority to safety. All our therapy rooms are transparent, visible and ensure child safety. All common areas and therapy rooms are under CCTV surveillance and movements are monitored and recorded. We insist on the presence and participation of parent/caregiver in each therapy session which further facilitates safety of the child.
Yes. We provide online therapy.
If you are settled abroad and cannot visit Prayatna, we provide regular online therapy program with periodical online reviews.
We also provide short-term online therapy programs which may be combined with intermittent in-house therapy sessions and in-person reviews. If you would like to know more about our online program, do not hesitate to contact our friendly team at +91 9746303555.
Parents play a pivotal role in online therapy programs. Our therapists train parents by practically demonstrating all therapy techniques and usage of tools during live sessions. These sessions focus on:
Video conferencing sessions are scheduled as per the convenience of child, parents and therapists.
All our therapists are highly qualified in their respective disciplines. Many of them have additional qualification and training in specific areas. Minimum qualifications of professionals at Prayatna are listed for ready reference.
Clinical Psychologist – M.Phil. in Clinical Psychology, licensed from Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
Psychologist – Have a minimum of Master’s degree in Psychology
Speech therapist – Have a minimum of Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology and registered with Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
Occupational therapist – Have a minimum of Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy
Physiotherapist – Have a minimum of Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Physiotherapy
Special Educator – Have a minimum of Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Special Education with specialization in Mental Retardation (MR), Learning disability or Autism, and registered with Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
Know more about our individual therapists here.
Different department/discipline therapy sessions can be scheduled one after another to avoid multiple visits to the centre. We also provide group therapy sessions for small and focused groups of children with professionals from multiple disciplines such as speech therapy, behaviour therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.
Yes. Group therapies are provided after initial individual sessions. Group therapies are planned based on each child’s skills, needs, sitting tolerance and ability to follow instructions.
We provide single discipline group therapies and multi-discipline group therapies. In multi-discipline group therapies, multiple therapists from multiple disciplines(speech therapy, occupational therapy, behaviour therapy, special education) provide therapy for a chosen group of children. Group therapies are designed and coordinated with a view to improve social, communication and group activity skills in children. All group therapies are planned in consultation with parents.
Yes. We provide family counselling sessions.
Frequency of therapy sessions depends on your child’s condition, needs and the availability of therapist. Prayatna offers Intensive Therapy Program and Regular Therapy Program.
In the Intensive Therapy Program, a child attends therapy session/s everyday Mon – Fri for 3 months. Review sessions are held every month to assess therapy progress. Our therapist trains parent/caregiver during the session and provides them with necessary tools and guidance to carry on with regular home follow-ups. At the end of 3rd month, the child is discharged or given a break with home programs. Additional sessions can be planned and scheduled depending on the child’s progress and needs.
In our Regular Therapy Program, a child attends therapy sessions once or twice a week. Review sessions are held once in 1-3 month/s to evaluate therapy progress. We insist on parent/caregiver participation during therapy sessions as this will give hands-on training for diligent home follow-ups. Therapy programs vary depending on child’s skill needs and parent/caregiver’s availability to attend therapy sessions.
In both programs, therapists train parent/caregiver and gradually wean centre-based therapy program with an option to schedule follow-up sessions as and when required.
All our professionals and admin staff follow strict Covid protocols and guidelines as per government mandate. We provide online therapy programs to ensure continuity of therapy to those children who cannot visit the centre and arrange periodical visits depending on the child and parent’s need.
Pattern and rate of improvement vary from child to child. With active parent/caregiver involvement and regular home follow-ups, you can expect to see a change in your child within 3-6 months.
Each treatment program is carefully crafted to cater to the specific needs of a child and in each therapy session, therapist aims to bring in something new that will benefit the child. You can always expect a positive change in your child, even though it may be minor at times. Therapy brings in a permanent development in a child but this may take time and requires consistent treatment and effort to achieve it. This fact needs to be accepted by each parent.
Photographs and video of the sessions are allowed with prior permission. It has to be made sure that it will never be misused. It has to be used only for therapy at home and should not be posted anywhere or shared with anyone without obtaining necessary permission from our office.
Any clothing that is comfortable, simple and loose that will not hinder therapy in any way. The dress should not make the child uncomfortable and hurt him/her during therapy. Also, avoiding non-essential accessories and ornaments will ensure your child’s uninterrupted involvement in therapy.
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