When attending an unfamiliar appointment, many children and their parents find it helpful to be prepared with some information about what is going to happen.
Of course the information you give them will vary according to their age, their level of understanding, their anxiety level, their personality and their interest in such information.
Here are some examples of what you might choose to tell your child:
For a young child:
“We are going somewhere special today where you will get to do lots of playing with your body. There will be a friendly man/lady who will talk with mummy/daddy and who will then play with you. We can take your favourite toy/book/game to show the man/lady”.
For the child who understands a little more you could then say:
“The man/lady would like to see how clever your body is. You might do running and jumping, standing on one leg, jumping like a kangaroo, walking the pirate plank, and other fun stuff too.”
For an older child, it is often helpful to have a little more information, such as:
“Today we are going to see the Physiotherapist. He/She is someone who helps children with their body, making sure that your body does what you want it to so that running, playing sports/games is easy. We are going to see him/her because....e.g. “You are very good at lots of things, but I wonder if (e.g. catching/kicking) is harder for you than it needs to be. Do you think we could make it easier for you so that it’s more fun?”
(It can be especially helpful to use a highly motivating tool (e.g. helping them be better at a loved sport like football or ballet so that can be just like their ‘stars’, be they real or cartoon).
“We will see him/her together. He/She will have a chat with me/us and with you. Then he/she may have some games for you and activities for you to do together. After we have finished, he/she will talk with us about what things you do really well and if there are any things that are a bit tricky. Then we will work out together the best way to help you with things you find a bit tricky.”