OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
At Frederick Hugh House our full-time occupational therapist works in partnership with teaching staff to integrate therapy goals into a variety of lessons i.e. Art, DT Dance & CLL. Our occupational therapist also leads the Food Technology lesson alongside our speech and language therapist to promote fine motor, bilateral integration and sensory development along with language and communication. Our Food Technology allows children to generalise using a knife and fork. The occupational therapist works with the teacher to provide a sensory-motor approach to literacy incorporating various sensory media (particularly tactile) in which to explore mark making, letters and shapes while also encouraging the children to work in different positions to develop postural control. The occupational therapist introduces various equipment and tools into the lesson i.e. scooter board, theraband exercises and clothes pegs to continue developing gross and fine motor skills along with sensory movement breaks to aid attention and concentration.

Our occupational therapist has completed post graduate training in Sensory Integration and specialises in this approach. Sensory Integration is the foundation for learning; therefore at Frederick Hugh House we provide our students with opportunities to access and explore different types of sensory input throughout the school day to encourage optimum levels of attention, concentration and learning. The school is equipped with a resourceful sensory room which includes a range of suspended swings, tactile boxes, ramp, trampoline, gym & peanut ball, etc., for each child to access the sensory break/input they need facilitated by our trained therapist.

Our occupational therapist is part of a multi-disciplinary team who works closely with students in both individual and small group settings to develop gross and fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, core & upper limb strength and stability, sensory processing, attention and concentration, balance, motor planning, self-care skills, visual perception and handwriting. The focus is to enable our children to reach their optimum level of independence for a range of daily living skills. Our occupational therapist also has joint sessions with the physiotherapist and speech therapist if deemed to be more beneficial for the child. Pupils receive input from the occupational therapist throughout daily activities, including lunch times, to ensure that if required the children have appropriate individualised cutlery and aids for feeding. The occupational therapist also ensures that each child has individualised seating in each classroom to meet their needs along with aids such as adaptive cushions, sloped writing boards, writing tools and pencil grips.

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
At Frederick Hugh House our full time speech and language therapist works in partnership with all teachers, teaching assistants and therapists in order to integrate speech and language therapy into the classroom and throughout the whole school.

We know that communication is fundamental to learning, so our goal is to enable our pupils to develop and use functional communication skills in order to access learning opportunities.

Our speech and language therapist is part of a multi-disciplinary team who works closely with pupils in both individual and small group settings to develop student’s communication and attention abilities. Pupils receive input directly from our speech and language therapist throughout daily activities, including playtimes, to ensure ample opportunities to progress student’s social communication skills.

Our speech and language therapist uses a total communication approach to implement intervention programs such as PROMPT, Makaton, Cued Articulation, PECS and Hanen tailoring each programme to each child’s individual needs.

PHYSIOTHERAPY
Frederick Hugh House offers a specialist Physiotherapy service administered by a Physiotherapist with extensive experience in working with children with a disability. The Physiotherapist at FHH focuses on mobility and gross motor skill development, aimed at improving the children’s functional capacity and independence levels, ranging from mobility around the classroom and community to high order gross motor tasks such as kicking, catching, throwing, jumping, hopping and skipping. In conjunction with an Occupational Therapist and a Speech and Language Therapist, the Physiotherapist at FHH forms a therapy team that employs a holistic approach to all of the pupils’ physical, emotional, intellectual and social development. This approach is aimed at development both within the school environment and outside the school environment, with prescription of home activities and exercise programmes to further extend all of the children’s learning.

Physiotherapy at Frederick Hugh House is delivered via one-to-one therapy sessions, joint therapy sessions with the other members of the therapy team, and construction and conduction of various curriculum subjects. At present the Physiotherapist at FHH is involved in the planning and implementation of Physical Education, Horse Riding, Dance and Swimming, as well as facilitating gross motor skill development during snack times, lunch times and school outings to the Park.