Why Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Pediatric Therapy Isn’t Optional Anymore
Let’s say the quiet part out loud:
Too often, therapy isn’t limited by the child’s diagnosis.
It can be limited by the clinicians’ inability to collaborate effectively.
In pediatric therapy, we say we’re building treatment plans around the child, but too often, what we’re really doing is building those plans around professional silos, personal bias, and disciplinary turf wars.
I’ve convened the highest levels of healthcare executives, clinical directors, and therapy leaders across the country. And whether it’s a school-based SLP, a private clinic BCBA, a hospital OT, a mental health therapist, or a home-based PT, the stories repeat themselves:
“They won’t take my recommendations seriously.”
“We’re not even on the same page.”
“I don’t even know what their goals are.”
And the child? The child becomes a game of telephone, passed between providers who never really collaborate, only coexist.
It’s time we name it, challenge it, and change it.
What Collaboration Is (and Isn’t)
True collaboration isn’t just being polite.
It’s not CC’ing each other on progress notes.
It’s not saying “I’ll consider that” and doing nothing with it.
True collaboration is co-construction.
It means actively designing strategies that incorporate each discipline’s lens, and doing so with shared respect, not silent resentment.
A BCBA isn’t the final word on behavior.
An OT isn’t the sole authority on regulation.
An SLP doesn’t own all things communication.
And a mental health therapist doesn’t have the exclusive license on emotional well-being.
Each holds a different piece of the unique individual’s care.
But the child only gets the full picture when we put those pieces together.
What the Research Says: Integrated Care Works
This isn’t just philosophy. It’s evidence.
- A 2025 study in Springer’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Review found that multidisciplinary care models led to significantly higher functional gains, faster skill generalization, and greater parent satisfaction than siloed interventions.
- The American Journal of Occupational Therapy reported that children in integrated therapy programs experienced better carryover across settings– school, home, clinic, due to shared language and consistency.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), integrated developmental services reduce long-term delays and improve school readiness more effectively than fragmented care.
And in autism care specifically, studies show that when BCBAs and SLPs collaborate, children show stronger gains in functional communication and faster progress in social goals than when working in isolation.
So What’s Stopping Us?
1. Ego
Clinicians have worked hard for their licenses, their certifications, their expertise. They would prefer it not to be questioned.
But collaboration isn’t about defending territory.
It’s about defending the possibility for the child.
2. Systems That Separate
Different organizations. Different EHRs. Different billing codes. No time to meet. No framework for collaboration. No incentive to share.
The system wasn’t built to collaborate.
But that’s not an excuse. It’s a call to innovate.
3. Assumptions
“She doesn’t understand behavior.”
“He’s not trauma-informed.”
“They don’t get sensory needs.”
“They’re not thinking about real-life function.”
These are the types of judgments that can be made before even meeting at the table.
If we want to move the field forward, we have to give up being right long enough to learn something new.
The Pediatric Patient Deserves More
Let’s ground this in reality. A child with sensory aversions, language delays, self-injurious behaviors, and motor planning challenges doesn’t just need:
- An OT’s fine motor checklist
- A BCBA’s behavior plan
- An SLP’s expressive goals
- A mental health therapist’s coping strategies
They need all of it. Integrated. Synchronized. Respectful.
The treatment plan shouldn’t reflect our roles.
It should reflect the child’s actual life, at school, at home, in the community.
And most importantly?
The child should feel seen, safe, and supported across every touchpoint, not confused by conflicting strategies.
Collaboration in Action: What It Actually Looks Like
Let’s get practical. What does great collaboration actually look like in pediatric therapy?
+ Shared goal-setting meetings where every provider contributes and aligns
+ Joint observations, watching how strategies play out in real time
+ Unified language in support plans and documentation
+ A clear communication protocol for progress updates and strategy shifts
+ Shared understanding that progress in one domain should never sabotage another
For example:
The BCBA is teaching verbal requests, and another provider, the speech therapist, is introducing AAC. The team needs to reconcile priorities, not compete.
That’s not a compromise, it’s clinical integrity.
What If Collaboration Became the Standard, Not the Exception?
What if we redefined professional excellence not by what we do in isolation, but by what we co-create?
What if we stopped seeing each other as competing narratives and started seeing ourselves as authors of the same story?
Because at the end of the day, we’re not treating speech, behavior, emotion, or movement.
We’re supporting a child.
A human being with one nervous system, unique home life, one reality, not five different treatment plans taped to a wall.
A Final Thought: Be the Therapist Who Builds the Bridge
Let’s model the very skills we ask children to learn- flexibility, regulation, communication, collaboration.
Let’s step into the uncomfortable space of not always having the right answer, but being willing to build the right answer together.
Collaboration isn’t soft. It’s strategic.
It’s the hardest, smartest, most human-centered work we can do.
And when we get it right?
The child doesn’t just receive better therapy.
They receive a better life.
