Hope Therapy Center continues to provide therapy services to area special needs students

Speech, occupational, and physical therapy are becoming more accessible to the patients that need them, particularly special needs children. With the prevalence of individual educational plans (IEPs) for students, school districts and parents have seen an increased need for qualified therapists to fulfill the related services outlined in their students’ IEP’s. Sometimes, these related services are unreachable to those clients who live in rural areas, or who don’t have qualified therapists in their area. For these students, remote therapy is becoming a new option for related services.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has made necessary a different approach to these related services as schools have had to suspend face-to-face instruction. The Hope Therapy Center has been one of the few Pittsburgh-area institutions able to continue related therapy services to local families.

Remote therapy is the online delivery of traditional therapy services. As the name implies, clients receive their speech, occupational, physical, and behavioral therapies by accessing a real time live screen with their therapist from a remote location. With so many opting for this new type of delivery, high level care is available to almost anyone.

Founded in 2008, The Hope Learning Center consists of multiple western Pennsylvania campuses offering outpatient physical, speech, occupational and applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, as well as a privately licensed academic school, early learning childcare, and consultative services for school districts and private companies. The company’s non-profit arm, The Hope for Autism Foundation, seeks to educate and assist the public on Autism Spectrum Disorder.