Goals Are Totally...Fun?

What are your goals after you graduate high school?  How many points do you need to score in tonight’s basketball game for your team to win?  Can you beat your big brother in an ice cream eating contest?  Goals can come in many shapes and forms.  They can be motivating, they can be fun or they can help us achieve milestones throughout our lives.  Some are easy to track like saving money for a new toy while others are a little less obvious like learning a new word and using it properly for the first time.  Then we have long-term and short-term goals which take on a different type of significance. Some goals are necessary to achieve before others can be reached.

At TOPS, goals are a very important tool that our therapists use to support our families throughout their therapy.  Likely the first time you contacted TOPS you were asked about concerns and goals (what you want to achieve) before you set foot in our building. During your first in-person visit with us, you likely discussed short-term and long-term goals which shape the therapy that is provided to your child and your family.  Then throughout the therapy process, goals would be revisited with the family and tweaked if needed.  Small goals need to be achieved session to session to reach the long-term goal of graduation.

TOPS generally focus on functional goals such as expanding the types of food a child will eat or helping them learn how to brush their own teeth. All goals are written with family input because we strongly believe that while therapy focuses on the child, it’s also about giving the family the tools to continue that support in the home. If the family isn’t motivated to meet the goal, the child won’t be motivated to reach the goal. We strongly believe that functional goals help children achieve their highest potential so if you have new thoughts on goals or need a refresher on your child’s existing goals, please have that conversation with your TOPS therapist. No one puts the “fun” in functional like TOPS!