Educational Therapy and Educational Care Services in Santa Barbara
The Center for Connection provides individualized, strengths-based educational therapy for children and adolescents navigating learning challenges. In Santa Barbara, Educational Therapist Kay de Veer brings more than 15 years of experience in classroom and one-on-one educational settings, supporting students with learning differences including executive functioning challenges, ADHD, dyslexia, and processing disorders.
Grounded in Interpersonal Neurobiology and neurodiversity-affirming practices, Kay considers the whole learner—including academic, emotional, behavioral, sensory, and developmental needs. She combines research-backed strategies with warmth, creativity, and multimodal tools such as movement and visualization to help students understand how they learn, build effective strategies, and develop greater confidence and independence.
Kay also provides support and consultation through interdisciplinary educational assessments, collaborating with families, educators, and other professionals to better understand each student’s learning profile and identify meaningful supports. Her goal is to help students not only navigate academic challenges, but develop the skills and confidence they need to thrive both in and out of school.
What is Educational Therapy?
Educational therapists are educators who provide individualized support to children and adults with learning differences, using their knowledge of the emotional, social, neurological, academic, and behavioral aspects of learning. Typical clients of educational therapists include but are not limited to individuals with ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, specific learning disorders, Autistic individuals, or students who experience executive functioning deficits or difficulties in the areas of language, visual processing, and auditory processing.
What is The CFC Difference?
Regulation First:
We know that children do their best learning when they are in a calm, open, alert, and receptive state. Our best teaching will not be as effective if a child is not in this regulated state or "green zone.” Many children need guidance and skill building to develop their capacity and find their "green zone" before they can get the maximum benefit from intervention. The Center for Connection Educational Care Team focuses on developing children’s self-regulation skills so that intervention will be much more effective.
Multidisciplinary Teamwork:
The Educational Care Team collaborates with The Center for Connection’s Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Psychotherapists, Clinical Psychologists, and Neuropsychologists to inform our collaborative, holistic lens. This integration of expertise and input from our multidisciplinary colleagues allows us to see, appreciate and support the whole child.
How > What:
Our educational care providers are not only specialists who teach skills, such as reading, writing and math, we are also process specialists who focus on the “how” of learning. We are trained to address the whole person and have experience in education and/or special education, as well as additional training in child development, learning differences, remediation techniques, study skills and organization strategies.
Tiers of Educational Care
Our Educational Care services are designed to meet students at different levels of need, with each tier offering a distinct level and type of academic support. Educational Therapists provide the most specialized and intensive level of individualized support, while Educational Specialists and Educational Associates offer additional forms of academic support for students with different learning needs.
At The Center for Connection, our Educational Care services are currently provided by an Educational Therapist, allowing us to offer the highest level of individualized educational support within this framework.
Below, you’ll find an overview of each tier of Educational Care and the types of support each professional provides. As our services grow, this framework will allow us to thoughtfully match students with the level of care that best meets their needs.
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Educational Therapists are skilled professionals who have completed their Educational Therapy certification program and who provide individualized, often intensive interventions for clients who present with a wide range of learning challenges. These are educational experts who are skilled in synthesizing all aspects of a student’s developmental profile to determine best-fit strategies for learning.
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Educational Specialists are professionals who have years of experience teaching students with learning differences and who are completing the last portion of their Educational Therapy training and supervised hours. They are often teachers, educators, and learning specialists, some with training and graduate work in special education.
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Educational Associates are professionals who are in the beginning stages of their Educational Therapy certification program. These are seasoned educators who have worked with students with learning challenges and who are in the process of honing their skills to work towards becoming professional level Educational Therapists.
Contact Us
If you would like to learn more about speech and language therapy, click below and complete the Confidential Consultation Request form. Our Clinical Director will reach out to you shortly.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our educational services.