An educational therapist is a professional trained in understanding and managing learning disabilities and developing strategies to support individuals in using their strengths to compensate for difficulties learning through traditional methods. Through combining educational and therapeutic approaches, an educational therapist works individually with clients to provide remediation, evaluation, case management, and advocacy on behalf of the client with learning disabilities (whether officially diagnosed or merely suspected), executive function issues, and unique learning abilities
A tutor generally supports students in content specific academic areas, usually for a defined length of time. The tutor may give specific instruction in mathematics, English, or history. An Educational Therapist (ET) takes a more global approach to working with a student. The ET’s job is to teach the student to “learn how to learn” in the way that takes advantage of the student’s strengths while compensating for the student’s weaknesses. The best results are achieved over the course of time as the ET and student develop a strong relationship and are able to work together in building the student’s skills for lifelong learning.
The Association of Educational Therapists is the national professional association for educational therapists. AET defines and sets standards for the professional practice of educational therapy. Educational therapists provide a broad range of individualized educational interventions for children and adults with learning disabilities and other learning challenges.