Children’s Occupational Therapy

Developing skills needed to participate in meaningful daily activities

What is Children’s Occupational Therapy?

It is approaches, methods and interventions or broadly speaking, therapy, that assists children with doing everyday things. It could include things at home like eating and dressing. Or it could be activities in the community, such as going to school, social interactions and problem solving skills.

Being such a broad area, children’s occupational therapy requires multiple lines of effort, across numerous domains of clinical expertise. Evolve OT’s can achieve this through face-to-face therapy, underpinned by evidence based, clinical frameworks and early intervention programs. A good Occupational Therapist’s session is focused work, disguised as play!

Among many different clinical methods, we can employ developmental approaches, early intervention programs like the Circle of Security Protocol® or interoception and mindfulness techniques, along with play and sensory motor therapies. In practice, an approach could look like:

Physical activities aimed at motor and environmental skill building in a therapy room
Conducting one on one sessions exploring social skills, relationships and emotions
Employing strategies to regulate attention, arousal and activity in a sensory room
Working with children in a one on one setting on handwriting in a therapy room
Employing assistive technology and equipment
Advising families on how to enact approaches at home and throughout the day
Development, delivery and ongoing monitoring of therapy programs and schedules

Importantly, Evolve Occupational Therapists won’t look at your child’s goals in a non-holistic approach. We’ll look at how therapy outcomes fit in with family and broader life, as interactions outside of your Occupational Therapist relationship are by far the most important in achieving your child’s goals and overall development.

Through an exceptional standard of therapy provision, we can equip you with the skills, tools and methods to best assist your child, when an OT isn’t around.

Benefits of Children’s Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapists help children and adolescents improve their ability to function. More acutely, Occupational Therapy for children is about better enabling children to participate, engage and function at home, in school and in everyday life.

Whilst children of all abilities can benefit from Occupational Therapy, children of whom experience developmental concerns in the following areas may find therapy helpful:

Coordination, balance and agility
Muscle weakness
Posture and core control
Fine and gross motor skills
Playing

Non-physcal developmental areas include:

Daily living tasks and activities
Concentration and attention difficulties
Early concept development
Expression of feelings and emotions
Sensory processing and modulation
Emotional regulation
Social skills and peer relationships
Transitions between life events
Energy, fatigue and hyperactivity
Problem solving
Age appropriate skills

Frequently Asked Questions

What does an Occupational Therapy session involve?

Facilitated by the therapist, each session will be tailored and planned to meet you child’s needs. It will involve you and your child meeting with the therapist before commencing the planned activities.

A session with a sensory integration treatment method in the clinic, would likely employ techniques to target the emotional and social system, employing single or multiple therapeutic methods. Areas that would be addressed could include social interaction, group dynamics and collaborative play.

At the end of the session, depending on the outcomes and goals, children are allowed to regulate and play, usually using resources such as a sensory room.

Where can therapy occur?

Therapy can take place anywhere, in the school, clinic or home.

Primarily however, therapy goals as part of a broader therapy plan, will dictate the setting of a session and this will be planned in advance to the appointment. For example, a session looking at focusing on a childs daily living activities could take place at home, as this is may be the most appropriate setting in this instance.

As a parent, what role do I play in therapy?

We’ll always encourage parents to join their child in the therapy room or sensory gym whilst therapy is occurring. This allows you to observe what the therapist and your child are doing, ask questions and importantly, learn how to employ key aspects of therapy, outside of the session.

In the clinic, if you can’t be present for any reason, we ask that you let your therapist know in person at the start of the session to discuss a plan.