Natural Environments for Learning

Chatling offers a mobile therapy service. This means we can see you or your child within natural environments such as your home, school or workplace. But why are natural environments important? See a summary of the evidence, and guidelines below.

Early Intervention (ages 0-7)

• Early Childhood Intervention Australia (ECIA)'s Best Practice Guidelines for Early Intervention (2016) support the engagement of children within natural learning environments for therapy.

• The guidelines state that support within natural environments "promotes children’s inclusion through participation in daily routines, at home, in the community, and in early childhood settings. These natural learning environments contain many opportunities for all children to engage, participate, learn and practise skills, thus strengthening their sense of belonging."

• These guidelines inform the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Early Childhood approach for children under seven.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users

• Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)’s clinical guidelines for AAC (2020) encourage the use of natural settings for both assessment and intervention.

• Becoming confident and competent using AAC, means being able to use AAC across environments, and with a range of communication partners (Light & Mcnaughton, 2015).

• Implementing assessment and therapy within natural environments, supports AAC users to use their communication in real-world settings.

Autistic Clients

• SPA’s Clinical Guideline: Evidence Based Speech Pathology Practice for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (2016) recommend the delivery of supports in natural everyday environments.

• Providing supports in natural environments, can be more comfortable for Autistic clients.

• For example, a client’s sensory need may be dim lighting, rather than bright fluorescent lighting at a clinic.

Literacy

• Collaboration between education staff and Speech Pathologists is recommended when supporting literacy (Speech Pathology Australia, 2021).

• Literacy is a component of every school subject and is needed to access the school curriculum.

• Some evidence suggests classroom based supports are more realistic and natural for children, and should be considered as a location for service delivery (Speech Pathology Australia, 2021).

The World Health Organisation (wHO) International Classification of Functioning (ICF):

• The ICF is WHO’s framework for Health and Disability.

• The ICF recognises the complex links between Health Conditions, Body Structures and Functions, Activity, Participation, Environmental Factors and Personal Factors. It acts as a guide for clinicians when engaging in assessment and supporting clients.

• When operating under the ICF model, it is important for clinicians to consider the natural environments of their clients (World Health Organisation, 2002).

• Providing services within natural environments, allows clinicians to gain an understanding of their client’s communication strengths and needs, and to support clients in real world contexts.

Are there benefits to in-clinic services?

• Yes! Supports provided within a clinic can be effective.

• It is important to consider how the supports will transfer from the clinic into natural environments.

• This may involve learning strategies in the clinic, which can also be implemented at home or school.

• If you are accessing clinic-based services, it is recommended that you discuss these strategies with your clinician.

Are there benefits to telehealth services?

• Yes! Supports provided via telehealth can be effective.

• Read our blog post Tell Me More About Tele to learn more about telehealth as a service delivery model.

References:

Speech Pathology Australia (2020). Augmentative and Alternative Communication Clinical Guideline. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia.

Speech Pathology Australia (2016). Evidence Based Speech Pathology Practice for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia.

Speech Pathology Australia (2021). Practice Guidelines for Speech Pathologists Working in Childhood and Adolescent Literacy: Revised. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia.

Quin, D., Ballardin, D., & Davies, S. (2016). National guidelines: Best practice in early childhood intervention. Early Childhood Intervention Australia (ECIA).

Janice Light & David Mcnaughton (2015) Designing AAC Research and Intervention to Improve Outcomes for Individuals with Complex Communication Needs, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 31:2, 85-96, DOI: 10.3109/07434618.2015.1036458

World Health Organization. (2002). Towards a common language for functioning, disability and health, Icf.