How can our occupational therapy services help a child in your life?
Pediatric occupational therapy helps a child in the following areas: moving, (fine-motor skills using the small muscles of their hands), learning (cognitive skills), playing (social and emotional skills), activities of daily living (dressing and feeding), and skills needed for their education (pre-writing, writing, and scissor skills). Our pediatric occupational therapists evaluate a child’s current skills related to play, school performance, and daily activities and compare them with what is developmentally appropriate for his or her age group. Our occupational therapists collaborate closely with each child’s family to develop a personalized treatment plan that addresses the child’s unique needs and goals. Family involvement is an important part of each therapy session. One essential goal of therapy is to provide families with education and ideas they can use at home.
A child in your life may benefit from occupational therapy services if he/she experiences one or more of the following:
- Changes in motor coordination (ability to coordinate multiple body parts for a particular action, such as dribbling a basketball)
- Decreased fine-motor skills (movements with your hands)
- Decreased gross-motor skills (movements involving large muscles, such as legs, arms, and torso)
- Decreased visual perception (when the brain makes sense of what the eyes see, e.g. you don’t just see shapes or marks on a page, but you know they are distinct letters)
- Difficulty adjusting to changes in a routine or to a new environment
- Difficulty following and maintaining a routine
- Difficulty with sensory processing and regulation
- Does not eat a variety of foods – texture, color, type, etc.
- Does not meet the majority of his/her developmental milestones within an appropriate timeframe
- Experiences difficulty trying new foods
- Self-care skills are not age-appropriate (brushing teeth, toileting, dressing, etc.)
- Poor social and play skills
COMMON DIAGNOSES
- ADHD/ADD
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Cerebral palsy
- Cognitive disorders
- Development disorders/developmental delays
- Down syndrome
- Fine-motor delays and impairments
- Gross-motor delays and impairments
- Muscular dystrophy
- Sensory processing disorders (SPD)