Building Rapport and Creating the Right Environment for Children with Neurodivergence
Building Rapport and Creating the Right Environment for Children with Neurodivergence
This course includes
The instructors
Overview
Creating the right therapeutic environment and building strong rapport are essential when working with neurodivergent children. In many cases, returning to the fundamentals of environmental setup and relationship-building can be the key to resetting engagement and establishing instructional control—leading to more successful sessions and better outcomes.
In this session, we’ll explore practical strategies for adapting your approach so you can support children diagnosed with neurodivergences more confidently and effectively. You'll gain insights into how environmental factors, rapport, and communication influence engagement, behavior, and learning.
Topics we’ll cover include:
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Autism and neurodivergent behavior strategies
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The role of rapport in clinical and therapeutic settings
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How environmental adjustments impact instruction and engagement
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Practical tips to build positive therapeutic relationships
About the Speaker
Bonnie McGill, M.Ed.
Bonnie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State University. Her work is grounded in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and she specializes in educating, training, and mentoring parents and clinicians to foster healthy, meaningful relationships with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other neurodivergences.
The instructors
The Paediatric Division is a special interest group within the Canadian Physiotherapy Association. Our membership consists of clinicians from all practice settings, students, educators, researchers, physiotherapy assistants and administrators all of whom have a passion for promoting participation and enhancing the lives of children and their families. We are dedicated to provide resources and information for paediatric patients and their families to promote participation and function independence in all aspects of life.
Paediatric physiotherapists employ clinical expertise in the early detection of health problems, treatment, education and management of congenital, developmental, neuromuscular, skeletal, cardiorespiratory or acquired disorders/diseases. Paediatric physiotherapists work with children of all ages, from infants through young adulthood to promote participation and functional independence. Paediatric physiotherapists have a unique role in that they not only work with the child, but also their families in the context of their daily home, school and recreational environment.
Paediatric physiotherapists use validated outcome measures to assess the level of strength, flexibility, gross-, and fine-motor coordination and overall functional capabilities to determine participation limitations or restrictions as a result of injury, disease or disability.
Through analysis of objective assessment findings, the paediatric physiotherapist uses evidence-based treatment interventions specifically tailored to the client and their family's goals. Treatment interventions focus on improving gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination, strength and endurance, as well as cognitive and sensory processing/integration.
Material included in this course
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Course Materials
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Welcome
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Full presentation
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Feedback
I'm a member of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA). What are the discounts available to CPA Members on Embodia?
As part of our partnership with the CPA, we offer its members discounts on courses and Embodia Memberships. Learn more about the partnership on this page.
In order for the discount to be applied, you first need to authenticate your CPA membership. This is an important step as this is how Embodia 'knows' that you are a CPA member.
To authenticate as a CPA member, you need to sign in the CPA portal on this page, sign in to your CPA account, and then click the button on the page.
Please note that your email address on your CPA account must match your email address on Embodia. If needed, you can update your information on Embodia as outlined in this guide.
Is a certificate of completion included with this course?
Once you have completed the course, a certificate of completion (including learning hours and course information) will be generated. You can download this certificate at any time. To learn more about course certificates on Embodia please visit this guide.
This can be used for continuing education credits, depending on your professional college or association. If this course has been approved for CEUs in specific jurisdictions, it will be noted on the course page and CEU information may be added to your course certificate. Please read this guide for more information.