Introduction
The Drumbeat therapy team work with staff, pupils and families across all three Drumbeat sites. The team includes Speech and Language Therapists, an Occupational Therapist and a Music Therapist. The therapists are supported by assistants who work to maintain our autism-friendly environment and deliver interventions as directed by the therapists.
At Drumbeat, we provide a neurodiverisity affirming, dynamic and evidence based practice tailored to the need of individual students. Therapy goals and practice is integrated into the curriculum and classroom so we provide the appropriate equipment, environment and provision for each learner. We work together as a team, alongside teaching colleagues, using a transdisciplinary model. This means that we commit to equally and continually discussing the needs of each student and providing the most effective education and therapeutic model of practice. We understand each other’s roles and work together to combine our skills and understanding.
We use a graduated response approach to therapy. Examples of this include universally we provide training to staff and families, at a targeted level we deliver interventions alongside education staff such as fun with food and attention autism, and at a specialist level we also carry out therapeutic assessments and highly personalised interventions.