Practicing Psychological Test Tools with adult male
What We Know about Pediatric Therapy Rooms in Indonesia
Every child is born with potential that can be optimally developed if they are accompanied by love, accepted, and involved. When parents know their children are in a condition that is not in accordance with their best development, they try to bring their children to therapy and look for schools that can help their children. In our experience at Joglo Preschool – Peace Place Pati, when accepting new children, sometimes the child’s needs cannot be seen right away through observation and interviews. But Joglo Preschool has learned good, effective ways to support their behavior and discipline. And as I learn more about psychology, I feel that it is better to determine interventions using test tools in the context of universal design for learning. This is an approach that designs instructions and learning materials for all children, whether they have the same or different needs, so that all can learn and develop comfortably. I realized that combining the approach taken at Joglo Preschool with the methods I studied in college could be valuable.
To develop this approach to learning, Joglo Preschool is designing a Children’s Therapy Room. In the process of deepening their understanding and knowledge, Joglo teachers are supported by Fulbright Specialist, Raleigh Sadlier. Teachers meet online every two weeks to consult on child development through reading the child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) or directly addressing emerging behaviors, and then practice the recommended ways to support the child’s development. The teachers find this useful and see good progress in the children they work with. This is especially effective when the teachers have dedicated time to meet the children face to face. Many schools here do not embrace all children. So parents often hide their children or only treat them with medical interventions.
Therefore, I decided to take two years to learn how to design a Children’s Therapy House that integrates the school’s active learning program at Joglo Preschool and therapy. To do this, I studied psychology at Soegijapranata Catholic University Semarang to obtain my license to practice psychology.
In this study, I learned about therapeutic approaches with strategies for parents and children, adaptive equipment and toys, assessment tests, references, resources, and administrative approaches for organization, schedules, budgets, rules, orientation, etc.
PsychologY Test Tool Practice (WISC)
In this field of study in Indonesia, most programs are focused on adults or parents and very few are focused on children. There are some schools for special needs children, but most of them are secondary schools. Very few are specifically for preschoolers, let alone combined with therapy.
I also learned about counseling and how to implement test tools, interpret test results, interview, observe, and intervene in cases, especially with clients who need psychological help, both individually and in groups. I practiced interviewing and assessing clients for six meetings. Then document the data, interpret the results and convey them to the client. I also practiced assessing the intelligence of a 9-year-old child in two meetings. In the first meeting, we got to know each other to establish closeness so that it wouldn’t be awkward when the test was carried out. In the next meeting, we used the Wechsler Test to interpret the results and then reported them to the child’s parents. I was also given the opportunity to observe the work of specialist doctors and practice under their guidance in the fields of clinical psychology, child psychology and social work.
On this journey I found important references for inclusive schools with diagnoses such as autism, speech delays, and ADHD must be accompanied specifically and need a comfortable room by paying attention to the main tools, coloring the room and layout so that children are not easily distracted. This includes:
- Natural lighting with soft and warm colors such as gray, light blue, pink, green, purple, and pastel colors.
- A simple room set up without too many items to give the impression of order and clarity to the child.
- Neutral colored furniture with smooth corners such as group tables or ball chairs to keep the children happy, because the shape and position are easy to change but still provide safety.
- Providing texture in the room will stimulate the child’s visuals. In addition, a quiet room with soundproofing offers an area to restore energy. All of this has an impact on the child’s physical health (posture) and mental health.
I am very grateful for this challenging opportunity and I really hope to get any books, places or reference sources that I can study to support my learning progress. I intend to spread this new development among my colleagues.