Using Therapy Principles to Support Neurological Growth
By Stephanie Buckwalter
Homeschooling is an ideal environment to help your special needs child make progress on therapy goals. The key is understanding what drives your child's need for therapy—and how neurological organization plays a central role.
What is Therapy?
Therapy is simply training the body to do things that come naturally to a neurologically organized brain. In individuals who are neurologically organized, development progresses in predictable, "normal" ways. When someone needs therapy, it usually indicates a disconnect between the brain and body, resulting in dysfunction.
Many disorders and dysfunctions fall along a spectrum. Terms like mild, moderate, severe, or profound indicate degrees of neurological disorganization. A child with mild disabilities is just a little neurologically disorganized; a child with profound disabilities is much more so.
Therapy works by moving a child toward better neurological organization and, consequently, improved functional abilities.
How the Brain Relates to Therapy
Neurological organization and therapy hinge on three interconnected processes:
Sensory Input – Information gathered from external senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) and internal senses (proprioception—body awareness—and vestibular balance).
Brain Processing – Storing information, recalling memories, making connections, sequencing actions, and sending motor signals.
Motor Output – Actions like speaking, running, writing, reading, playing, and performing tasks.
The therapy your child receives should address one or more of these three stages. The goal is to help your child function more easily and effectively in daily life.
Therapy Principles: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration
To influence the brain, therapy should manipulate sensory input by varying:
Frequency – How often the activity occurs
Intensity – How focused or challenging the activity is
Duration – How long the activity lasts
When addressing profound disabilities—or when starting therapy for a new skill—begin with high frequency, high intensity, and short duration.
Think of a baby learning to crawl. They attempt over and over (high frequency), focus completely (high intensity), but tire quickly (short duration). As they master crawling, the intensity lowers, the duration increases, and the movement becomes effortless.
Therapy should follow the same pattern.
Homeschooling offers a perfect setting to implement therapy because you can easily adjust the frequency, intensity, and duration of activities daily.
Watch for Negative Sensory Input
Sometimes, negative sensory input—like uncomfortable clothing, loud noises, lighting issues, or food reactions—can cause behavioral challenges.
Tracking these incidents can reveal patterns.
(You can use the Incident Report Form included in my free ebook, Crash Course: How to Teach Your Special Needs Child at Home, which also explores more neurological concepts.)
Understanding Motor Output Therapies
The most familiar therapies—Physical Therapy (PT), Speech Therapy (ST), Occupational Therapy (OT), and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)—focus on motor output. These therapies are often covered by insurance or provided through schools.
Because our children may not intuitively grasp physical, social, or emotional skills, they need direct teaching. When your child is receiving therapy, ask for daily homework and apply frequency, intensity, and duration to practice and reinforce skills.
Brain Processing Therapies
If the brain itself struggles to function well—due to damage, inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, or structural issues—then therapies focusing on brain integration are key. These may include:
Rhythmic Movement Therapy
Music Listening Therapy
Brain Gym® exercises
Activities that balance the brain’s hemispheres
Other interventions, like biomedical, holistic, or naturopathic treatments, can also play vital roles in improving brain function. Homeschooling gives you flexibility to integrate these supports into your child’s daily life.
What Does This Mean for My Child?
As a homeschooler, you have the freedom to work on therapy at times and for durations that suit your child's needs—and not just for therapy goals, but for academics and life skills too.
Example:
One of my sons struggled with reading. By the end of fourth grade (and after trying multiple curricula), we made a breakthrough using a simple yet powerful method.
We worked through a list of 2,000 high-frequency words, grouped into 20-word sets. Each day we read through a few lists together—high frequency (daily practice), high intensity (reading was hard for him), and short duration (just a few words at a time).
After a few months, he achieved significant reading progress. Interestingly, after a summer break with no additional reading practice, his skills improved even further. His brain had processed the input and filled in the gaps!
Sometimes focusing on input and consistency—rather than demanding immediate output—can produce remarkable results.
Another example:
For my daughter with moderate disabilities, working on neurological organization (rather than pure academics) produced the most dramatic gains. While she attended public school, I focused on home therapies. Teachers frequently noted surprising improvements—validating that neurological work at home, not classroom instruction alone, was fueling her growth.
When we skip therapies, she struggles, slipping into fight-or-flight responses.
When we maintain them, she thrives both intellectually and behaviorally.
If therapy isn't producing the results you hope for, consider whether your child needs more support with sensory input or brain processing before focusing on motor output.
How to Incorporate Therapy into Your Homeschool Day
Here are simple ways to boost neurological organization through homeschooling:
Apply frequency, intensity, and duration principles to:
Therapy homework
Academic or life skills goals
Difficult subjects
Add developmental movement activities:
Brain Gym® exercises or activities from Smart Moves
Rhythmic movement therapy for retained reflexes
Daily walks to stimulate brain integration through natural cross-lateral movement
Exercise or dance
Train motor output:
Learn therapy exercises from your child’s therapist
Use hand-over-hand support to teach physical tasks
Gently manipulate body movements to promote correct function
Never give up on your child, regardless of their age.
Every step toward better neurological organization improves their ability to thrive in life.
