What Is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational Therapy is an allied medical health care profession that aims to improve functioning and assist an individual in achieving their maximum level of independence in their daily occupations.
Occupational Therapists study at university and are registered and bound by the rules and ethics of the Health Care Professional Council. Treatment in Occupational therapy is done through the use of age-appropriate and carefully planned and selected activities, aimed at improving specific skills. Occupational Therapy for the pre-school and school-aged child.
Some signs that your child may need OT?
- Struggles to keep up with the demands at school
- Fidgets and gets , easily distracted
- Has difficulty with fine motor or gross motor skills and their skills are not in line with their peers
- Poor endurance and tires easily during writing / colouring in and other classroom tasks
- Struggles with pencil control / eye-hand coordination
- Has difficulty learning to write their name and does not like drawing
- Reverses letters that are similar (b and d)
- Unable to write on the line or keep letters the same size
- Dislikes writing
- Avoids school and work tasks
The process
Therapy usually starts with an assessment, after which individual goals are determined and a treatment plan compiled. For pre-school and children of school-going age, these are usually the underlying skills required for writing, concentration, and reading.
Examples of therapy goals would be:
- Improving core strength / postural tone
- Developing bilateral coordination
- Improving hand strength
- Developing fine motor skills
- Developing visual perception skills
- Improving sensory modulation
Treatment sessions usually range between 30 and 60 minutes, weekly or bi-weekly. During the sessions, a combination of aims is treated simultaneously. A home exercise program may be given to support your child’s progress.
Why should I pursue OT for my child?
Children are very aware of their strengths and weaknesses, even though we might not realize it. As a result, they often avoid tasks that they feel they are not good at. This impacts on their, performance, their self-esteem, their behavior, and their love for school and learning.
As Occupational Therapy addresses the skills underlying their struggles, they soon improve, gain confidence, and shine, like the stars they are meant to be!