There are many things we do in life that have very good reasons behind them. We often share those reasons with our children. We use words like 'because' and 'so' to explain what we are thinking and why we are doing something. "Put your jumper on because it's cold", "put your washing in the basket so it gets washed", "we're going to be late because I need to drop this off first".
Young children will often ask 'why' questions in rapid fire. These inquisitive questions don't always have a solid cause & effect behind them, but our curious growing little people are learning about the world and want to know all the whys! "Why don't fish have legs", "Why is the sky blue?, "Why is an apple called an apple?"
As we get older and know a lot more about the world, we rely on our world knowledge and experiences to function in our day to day lives. Imagine having to question everything we see or do - it would be exhausting! But that doesn't mean we never ask why - there are still areas of our lives where we need to channel our inner 3 year old information seeking self and ask "but why"!
As a team, we have taken time to reflect on the work shared by Simon Sinek, an American psychologist. One of his most popular topics is that "great leaders inspire action". When we work in partnership with parents and families, we help the people around a child become the leaders of the therapy journey.
Simon Sinek talks about a three part analysis of what you do (the result), how you do it (the process) and why you do it (the purpose). The most important, but often least addressed part is the "why'. Understanding the why leads to better outcomes and engagement.
"Why am I doing this?"
"Why am I doing it this way?"
"Why is this important to me?"
At Out Loud Developmental Services, we believe that families have the right to access the support and opportunities they need to help their children develop, learn, participate and thrive. This is our why! Why we come to work every day, why we love our jobs and why we choose to work within the health sector.
We also use the power of 'why' within our planning, assessment and therapy sessions, when working in partnership with the families we see. We like to explore the reasons and motivations behind the goals we are setting, the areas we are focusing on and the challenges we face. When we understand why we are doing something, we are more easily able to apply our knowledge and experience to the best course of action for the 'what' and 'how' aspects of the therapy.
The team at Out Loud are one part of a big network for you & your child. Together we can work in partnership to deliver services that best meet the needs of your family. This means we might ask a lot of questions - questions that help us to build a picture of what is happening for your family.
We encourage you to ask questions of us also. Sometimes the why behind a task or activity in the therapy setting can be obvious to both the therapist and the parent. But sometimes it can be harder to make the links without asking the question. If you're working with your therapist and you don't know or understand why we are doing something, please ask us. By knowing why we are doing what we do, there is the opportunity for shared understanding and better outcomes.
We look forward to taking families on this journey of 'why' with us and hope you find it as fascinating as we do! As leaders, we have the power to inspire action. You may not consider yourself to be a leader, but you are! We love this quote from Simon Sinek.
As we finish up this blog post, here are some questions to ponder about your therapy experience -
Why are you coming to therapy?
Why is Out Loud a good match for the needs of your family?
Why are those therapy goals important to you?
This post was written with thanks to Simon Sinek and the work he has shared in his books and online.
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