Occupational Therapy is a health profession that aims to assist people in participating in their daily lives and occupations within their chosen environments. Occupational Therapists are specifically trained to work with individual's to enhance their overall development (physical, social, cognitive, emotional) and ability to carry out activities of choice, or those that are expected of them to the best of their ability.
How can it help children?
For children, their main occupation is "play". The role of an Occupational Therapist working with children would be to provide support and intervention to address barriers that may be impacting on their ability to participate in daily activities typical of a child; self-care, school, making friends, playing, overall development. The decision to pursue occupational therapy services for your child can be a very personal one. There are a number of reasons why you may refer your child. Occupational Therapy addresses key 'doing' skills which a child is having difficulty with.
Some common areas where Occupational Therapy can help include:
Gross motor (ball skills, skipping, jumping)
Fine motor (puzzles, construction activities, colouring, drawing, cutting, handwriting)
Play (imaginative, purposeful, cooperative, structured, sequenced)
Social (relating, friendship, dealing with feelings, behavioural challenges)
Sensory (dealing with over or under sensitivities to touch, movement, sights and sounds)