So your child's pediatrician recommended they receive occupational therapy services. You think, what IS that? You've come to the right place. We are going to easily breakdown some of the things you can expect when your child receives pediatric occupational therapy services.
What is Occupational Therapy for Kids?
Occupational therapy helps people of all ages improve their functioning and independence in everyday life. When an occupational therapist works with a child, they incorporate fun, play-based strategies in order to improve their skills and adaptive functioning in order to successfully participate in their occupations.
What is an Occupation?
An occupation is an activity a person engages in regularly. Children engage one of the most important occupations there is...PLAY!
In
When a child is struggling to complete their daily occupations, an occupational therapist is consulted in order to evaluate barriers to participation and works to implement strategies, exercises, activities, adaptations, and modifications in order to help the child become more independent.
Possible Limiting Barriers to Participation:
- Gross motor skills (i.e. coordination, core strength)
- Fine motor skills (i.e. handwriting, scissor skills)
- Hand-eye coordination
- Praxis (i.e. ideation, motor planning and execution of tasks)
- Handwriting
- Social interaction
- Visual perceptual or visual motor skills
- Activities of daily living (ADLs) such as dressing, toileting, & self-care
- Self-regulation and emotional regulation
- Sensory processing
Common Diagnoses Often Seen By Occupational Therapists
Some children struggle more than their peers to engage in their daily occupations due to a limiting diagnosis. However, occupational therapists do not see the diagnosis, they see the PERSON. Many children who receive occupational therapy have a developmental delay, birth injury/defect, learning disorder, autism spectrum disorder or pervasive developmental delay, sensory processing disorders, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, or other limiting illnesses.
What is the Difference Between Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy for Children?
Both occupation and physical therapy work to promote independence and functioning when working with children and aim to educate caregivers on the best strategies to facilitate learning and participation for children. However, physical therapists will assess and address the child’s strength, range of motion, pain, orthotics, spatial awareness, gait and mobility, activity tolerance, gross motor skill milestones, and balance abilities. Although an occupational therapist will also assess the majority of these areas, they will take a more holistic approach to assessing the child determining how the child’s occupations and the family’s routines are being impacted. In essence, they look at the person as a whole including routines, roles, and daily functioning. An OT will also assess areas of the child’s functioning including fine motor, visual perceptual, social/cognitive, and sensory processing.
Occupational Therapy in the School
Occupational therapists in the school setting work to assist your child in one of their main occupations. Education. Learning is such an important part of your child’s everyday life as they make connections and grow physically and mentally. However, some children struggle in school due to limiting factors to learning such as decreased attention, peer interaction skills, delayed fine motor and handwriting skills, poor visual motor or perceptual skills, or self-regulation. Your child’s occupational therapist in the school system works directly with your child to improve functioning skills such as handwriting and also with their teachers and support staff to eliminate barriers to participate such as implementing sensory strategies or modifications to the classroom environment. If you believe your child may benefit from occupational therapy, you can request an evaluation at any time.
Occupational Therapy in Early Intervention
When your child receives occupational therapy through early intervention or birth to three, the approach is a coaching model. Therefore, the occupational therapist will assess the child, and make recommendations for the family to implement through modeling strategies and coaching them to implement with the child. Early intervention occurs in the child’s natural environment including your home or additional settings the child spends time such as the playground, daycare, or a babysitter’s home. Strategies implemented in the birth to three
Occupational Therapy in the Outpatient Clinic
When a child receives services in the outpatient setting, this means a private clinic. Often this means that the clinic will have a waiting area, treatment rooms, and a sensory gym. The therapist will interview the parent directly about the child’s medical history, determine delays and limitations to your child’s current functioning in daily occupations through a standardized assessment and play-based observations. Children will receive an individualized treatment plan for services and also a home program to complete when not in therapy. Also, a common misconception is that children cannot receive OT both at school and the outpatient clinic. However, if your insurance will cover outpatient services, they can receive BOTH.
Other Settings OTs Work with Children:
- Mental health programs/hospitals
- Rehabilitation center
- Day & community programs
- Specialized centers
What is a home program?
A home program includes a list of strategies and activities for you to complete with your child at home or in the community. This may include exercises to improve strength and bilateral coordination, activities to help to self-regulation and tolerating sensory input, or strategies and modifications to make to improve functioning. Usually, a home program has activities for you to pick from daily to help your child work on essential skills. However, home programs constantly change as your child regularly attends occupational therapy addressing their goals and making progress.
What is a sensory diet?
A sensory diet is different than a home program in that it aims to promote self-regulation and improved sensory processing by scheduling specific, beneficial activities into the child’s daily routine. This group of activities is solely designed by an occupational therapist or certified occupational therapy assistant. Activities are chosen for your child and are tailored to their specific sensory needs including movement (vestibular), touch (tactile), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), body position (proprioception), and sound (auditory). Sensory diets should only be carried out by a person that has been trained by an occupational therapist to perform.
What Training Do Occupational Therapists Have?
Occupational therapists (OT) are required to complete a masters degree in occupational therapy at an accredited university or college and pass a national licensure exam. However, by July of 2027, occupational therapists will be mandated to receive a doctorate degree.
Education including anatomy & physiology, kinesiology, neuroanatomy, human development, health conditions, theory, and specialized clinicals.
Among MANY other areas of specificity….
Due to the broad knowledge of occupational therapists, they are specialized to view the person or child as a whole being and not the sum of their deficits. OTs are uniquely positioned to help your child.
What Can I Expect My Child to Accomplish in OT?
Every child is different and unique and thereby, their developmental process is the same. One child may benefit from occupational therapy for a few visits or simple require certain modifications or adaptations while another child may make gradual progress over the course of therapy for a year or two.
You can expect that through a sensory-motor, play-based approach, your child will learn new skills and improve their daily functioning in the home, school, and community environments. Don’t be surprised if your child looks like they are playing in therapy.
After all…
-Diane Ackerman
“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.”
If your child struggles to engage in their daily routine and occupations, consult your child’s school or pediatrician to get them an evaluation to receive needed services.
Best,
Sarah