Danger of assumptions

“It works like this!”

Therapy that works in theory may not work in practice.

An explanation of how or why a treatment may work does not mean it does work. And even if a treatment works in a way that is likely to be helpful, it is not possible to predict exactly how helpful it is going to be.

For example, oro-motor exercises used to be a common treatment for people with speech problems caused by muscle problems. People believed these exercises would help improve their speech by strengthening and retraining the muscles. But the exercises didn’t help and gave people false hope.

BEWARE if a claim about the effects of a treatment is based only on an explanation of how it works.

REMEMBER: Therapy that works in theory may not work in practice.