Pediatric Occupational Therapy
What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?
Pediatric Occupational Therapy helps children gain independence by strengthening the development of fine motor skills, sensory skills, and visual skills necessary for functioning and socializing in the world around them.
Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy often overlap, as many areas of difficulty addressed by an Occupational Therapist (OT) are closely related to a child’s speech and language development, such as play and social skills. Our OTs and Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) work together to maximize functional progress during therapy, ensuring new skills carry over into daily life.
Why Choose OT?
A child’s role in life is to play and interact with others. Our Pediatric Occupational Therapists evaluate a child’s current skills related to play, school performance, and daily activities. OTs help children overcome challenges in daily tasks by addressing sensory, social, behavioral, motor, and environmental factors.
Potential Areas of Assessment:
- Core body strength and endurance
- Gross motor skills
- Fine motor and handwriting skills
- Visual motor & visual perceptual abilities
- Sensory processing
- Self-regulation
- Ocular motor function
- Social-emotional status
- Activities of daily living (ADLs)
- Use of utensils & cups
- Use of oral structures for eating
- Dressing & undressing (and fastening clothing)
- Organization & sequencing of tasks
Who May Benefit from OT?
Children may need Occupational Therapy with or without a medical condition. Kids with the following conditions are at risk for delays that can impact participation in home and school activities:
- Neuromuscular conditions (e.g., Cerebral Palsy)
- Poor motor coordination
- Sensory Processing Disorders
- Learning Disabilities
- Attention Deficits
- Poor self-regulation or organization of behavior
- Developmental issues (e.g., prematurity or low birth weight)
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Developmental disorders
- Down Syndrome
- Genetic Disorders
What Can Be Accomplished Through OT?
Occupational Therapists help children in the following areas:
- Improving fine motor skills for tasks like grasping and releasing toys, and developing handwriting skills
- Enhancing hand-eye coordination for play and school skills (e.g., hitting a target, batting a ball, copying from a blackboard)
- Teaching basic self-care tasks (e.g., bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, and feeding themselves)
- Promoting positive behaviors (e.g., managing anger through writing or physical activity, rather than acting out)
- Evaluating the need for specialized equipment (e.g., wheelchairs, splints, bathing aids, communication devices)
- Enhancing attention and social skills to foster interpersonal relationships