"Occupational Therapists work with people of all ages, helping them to carry out the activities that they need or want to do in order to lead healthy and fulfilling lives."
( British Association of Occupational Therapists.)
Occupational Therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession that aims to help an individual achieve success in those tasks that occupy their time on a daily basis. For children this typically means playing and learning as well as eating, getting dressed, grooming and so on.
An OT provides carefully designed challenges (therapeutic and/or purposeful activities) and assistive technology to build and assist developmental skills.
Occupational Therapy Developmental Skills:
- Sensory processing (taste, smell, hearing, touch, vision, movement, internal body awareness, attention span and arousal level)
- Fine and gross motor skills (including all physical milestones to individual skills)
- Skills for Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
- Hand-writing
- Visual perception
- Motor planning and co-ordination
Assessment Areas:
- Physical/Development evaluation
- Sensory processing
- Balance, coordination and visual perception skills
- Fine motor and gross motor evaluation
- Hand Dexterity / Hand-writing skills
- Self-care skills
- Social and play skills
Treatment Conditions
Occupational Therapy focuses on the treatment of physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities including:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Cerebral Palsy (CP)
- Children with genetic conditions/syndromes
- Developmental Delay/Learning Difficulties
- Developmental Co-ordination Disorder / Dyspraxia
- Visual Perceptual Difficulties
- Poor Social Skills