Understanding Occupational Therapy

The term “occupation” likely brings up the image of an adult workforce, and, in a sense, this therapy addresses a similar aspect. A child’s job, or occupation, is to develop the skills that will help him or her succeed later in life, including motor and social skills.

If your child struggles to develop these skills on his or her own, one of our occupational therapists will help your child through the process. They will evaluate your child’s skill level and determine which areas might need a boost. A few common ways they can help children include:

Teaching the child how to properly hold a writing instrument or toy
Suggesting environmental adaptations, such as a reduction in stimulation if a child easily loses
focus

Teaching the proper way to perform basic hygiene skills, like washing hands or brushing teeth
Improving coordination skills

By gaining these skills early in life, your child will gain confidence and independence. Your son or daughter will be able to keep up with his or her peers and fully engage in the activities required of him or her.

Sensory Integration Skills

Sensory Integration is our ability to take in information from our senses and organize it so we can function in our world. Sensory Integration Skills develop throughout our growing years and involve our ability to touch, taste, smell, feel movement, hear, and have an awareness of our body. Proper development of sensory integration skills requires children to experience senses in the world around them.

Sensory Integration skills are very important to a child’s overall development, health, learning, behavior, and self-esteem. Developing sensory integration skills at an early age impacts a child’s behavior, social skills, and play skills. The human body follows a step-by-step process, where one area often relies on another to achieve full function. Sensory integration develops with fine and gross motor skills – they are all dependent on one another.

Each milestone that is achieved throughout the first years of life is dependent on the one that came before it. To be able to swing and climb on the playground, we must first learn to tolerate movement through space. We need to learn how to cope with busy, quiet, and changing environments in order to concentrate in school. We need to use our body senses together in order to function in our natural environments.

If your child is showing signs of challenges with their sensory Integration skills, it is important to seek out help right away before behaviors become more severe. The earlier intervention is provided, the more effective it can be. You want you and your child to experience less stress as quickly as possible.

Fine Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skills are the small movement skills of our hands, fingers, and wrists that develop throughout our growing years. These include writing, cutting, keyboarding, eating, holding small items, buttoning, and turning pages. Proper development of fine motor skills requires strength, postural control, and coordination. It also requires appropriate function of our eyes.

Fine motor skills are very important to a child’s overall development, health, learning experiences, and self-esteem. Developing independence with fine motor skills at an early age is crucial to school performance and self-care skills (such as dressing). The human body follows a step-by-step process, where one area often relies on another to achieve full function.

Each milestone that is achieved throughout the first years of life is dependent on the one that came before it. To be able to cut and write, we must first learn to grasp. We need to learn how to hold small objects in order to feed ourselves. We need to use our eyes and hands together before we button and zip. The body goes through a complicated movement process. If a child is not achieving a milestone within a reasonable time frame, it is important to ask questions and seek out guidance right away because the next set of skills is coming up fast. The longer you wait, the further behind the child will fall. The earlier an intervention is provided, the more effective it can be.

Identifying a Need for Occupational Therapy

While every child learns differently and progresses at a different rate, a child developing at a normal rate tends to hit certain developmental milestones. The checklist below offers a guideline for how to track your child’s progress. If your child has not yet hit the suggested milestones for his or her age, contact our office. We can help identify whether your child might benefit from occupational therapy.

To learn more about occupational therapy in your area, contact us; We look forward to working with you and your family.

Who is in need of occupational therapy?

Autism Spectrum Disorders
Sensory Processing Disorders
Feeding Difficulties & Dysfunction
Developmental Coordination Disorder/Dyspraxia
Down’s Syndrome
Genetic & Chromosomal Disorders
Neurologic Diagnoses
Cerebral Palsy
Spina Bifida

Muscular Dystrophy
ADHD, OCD, anxiety
Hemiplegia, Stroke & Brain Injury
Failure to Thrive
Learning Disabilities
Visual Motor & Visual Perceptual Difficulties
Delay Reaching Developmental Milestones
Prenatal drug use/overdose

An Occupational Therapist can help a child who is experiencing difficulty with any of the following:

Feeding & eating

Self-care: Dressing, bathing, brushing teeth, hair care, hand washing, nail care, tying shoes & managing fasteners (buttons, zippers, snaps, buckles, etc.)

Modulation & regulation of sensory input from movement, touch/textures, sound, sights, and tastes

Body & spatial awareness as it relates to coordination and interacting with others and the environment

Balance, coordination, & postural control activities: jumping, hopping, skipping, swinging, galloping, climbing, etc.

Fine motor coordination: hand dexterity, scissoring, tool use, & object manipulation (legos, game pieces, dice, coins, blocks, beads, lids, containers, etc.)

Handwriting, coloring, & drawing

Visual motor & perceptual activities: eye tracking, scanning, eye-hand coordination, right/left discrimination, spatial relations, transitioning gaze from close to farther away, understanding what the eye “sees”

Ball play: throwing, catching, kicking

Attention, coping, and self-regulation

Play and social skills

Executive Functioning skills: organization & planning, working memory, self-monitoring, initiation, shift/flexible thinking, impulsivity.

Contact

I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.

info@Play2LearnPediatricTherapy.com

(470) 589-1218