Five Anti-Racist Considerations to Look Within Your Therapy Practice – All Year Long
- Representation Matters in treatment media positive & relevant ways (puzzles, crafts, pretend play, videos, art) and in evaluation tools. Consider the therapy materials you have. How can they reflect the population you treat? What messages do your clients receive from the materials you currently use?
Give Black Children Mirror to See Themselves. - Be aware of how to monitor the actions and language of black children. Check your internal bias on the actions and language that black clients and caregivers may use.
- Listen to black parents and caregivers. I’ll say it again. Listen to black parents and caregivers. Reflect on what is considered “aggressive” and what is someone being direct, for example. Listen to caregiver concerns and consider the impact of those concerns. Ask questions about priorities in treatment services and goal planning.
- Respect our hair. Respect our space. The same micro-aggressions that you’ve learned about, reflected on in listening sessions, consider those for your clients. No matter their age.
Value boundaries and space. - See their color. With disparities in access to care, racial discrimination, and school to prison pipeline, there’s really no room for colorblindness. Treating everyone the same, or with “kindness” doesn’t cut it. Take time for reflection and make conscious effort to include these anti-racist considerations in practice.
How are you giving black children a mirror to see themselves?
Resources:
Woke Kindergarten
Montessori in Color
JRC the SLP
A Dime in OT Blog (that’s me!)