Collaborative consultation: the efficacy of remedial and compensatory interventions in school contexts

This study examined the intervention success of weekly collaborative consultation between therapists and teachers.

Ten therapist-teacher pairs consulted for 60 min weekly throughout the school year about students identified as having sensory integration dysfunction with learning problems. Each week, the pairs identified a specific functional classroom goal then designed either a remedial or compensatory intervention and set criteria for intervention success. At each successive weekly meeting, the pairs determined whether the goal was met. Intervention success was analyzed across 10 students (for a total of 213 goals).

There was a positive effect for overall intervention success. Although remedial and compensatory interventions were equally successful across student performance areas, therapist-teacher pairs demonstrated a preference for compensatory and academic goals.

The overall positive effect for intervention success suggests that when occupational therapists and teachers collaborate on behalf of students, they can facilitate student success in a variety of performance areas. Therapist-teacher preference for compensatory and academic goals indicates that therapist-teacher collaboration can be useful for occupational therapists to link interventions to academic goals in school contexts.