Occupational Therapist

Occupational Therapist

What does a child oriented Occupational Therapist do?

The very word "occupation" – describes an activity which "occupies" our time and daily attention.
Occupational therapy is skilled treatment that helps individuals achieve independence in all facets (occupations) of their lives. We function in many different roles and occupations through the day and throughout our lives.

A unique attribute of occupational therapy is the emphasis on functional outcomes or goals. Thus an O.T. goal is likely to describe how the child will access and explore their environment, or how she will walk ten feet unassisted or how to self regulate himself in the classroom and other quality of life matters as it relates to bodily sensory-motor and skills of daily living. Most developmental disorders including children with learning disabilities, autism, mental retardation, traumatic brain injury, attention deficit disorder, genetic syndromes, cerebral palsy and feeding problems will benefit from OT consultation. Occupational Therapists can be accessed through most school systems, hospitals and in private practice. You might want to check if your insurance plan will cover these services if outside of school.

Early Childhood:

Occupational therapists who specialize in infant and early childhood development can be found working in Early Intervention Centers, or out-patient clinics and in hospitals and other institutions. They assess and work with children who have delays in gross and fine motor skills, feeding difficulties and sensory integration dysfunction. Occupational therapy with young children will often work through play. While play and recreation are important preoccupations for health and happiness throughout the life span, play is especially important for children. Play is often said to be the work of childhood. It is through play that a child learns social interactions, masters his body movements and learns to use his senses to organize his world.
An early childhood occupational therapist might:

• Play directly with the child to teach specific skills
• Train the parent to observe and play with the child
• Help the parent modify the environment so the child can succeed
• Educating care givers about the child’s unique learning needs.
• Participate in a developmental interdisciplinary team of providers
• Help with toileting, feeding and sleep problems

School Age:

In the schools occupational therapists use their expertise to help children to prepare for and perform important learning and school related activities to fulfill their occupation as students. An occupational therapist might:

• Observe as student engaging in and activity and provide strategies to facilitate the student’s full participation
• Reduce barriers that limit student participation (change the environment)
• Utilize assistive technology to support success
• Provide direct activities for ongoing implementation in the classroom to improve the student’s skill in areas such as visual motor and perceptual development and handwriting
• Provide supports that allow the child to access the lunchroom and restrooms or other specialized environments
• Provide adaptation so the child can succeed on the playground.
• Provide interventions to help a child appropriately respond to information coming through the senses. (Sensory integration or sensory processing activities)
• Help child modulate and seek coping skills to comfort and sooth himself
• Determination how child takes an idea and converts it to a motor act (praxis)
• Assess over and under-reactive children for sensory sensitivities
  

Transition to adulthood:

As a young person progresses in school, an occupational therapist will often be the key person who evaluates and helps set up programs so that he or she will be able to succeed as an independent adult. An O.T. might

• Teach homemaking and self help skills
• Teach about accessing public transportation
• Assist with adaptations for driving
• Help determine goodness of fit between person’s abilities and their social-physical niche
• Help construct  transition planning as part of IDEA for school

For more information on occupational therapy:
The Role of OT: Fact Sheets – The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.