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Occupational Therapy Overview
About Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is a form of treatment for developmental disability which allows individuals to make the best use of their skills and abilities. It is referred to as "occupational" because the intention is to one day use such skills and abilities for high level functioning and possibly paying employment. For many people, occupational therapy simply means acquiring the behaviors and skills needed to sufficiently perform the "job of everyday living."
How Do I Know if my Child Needs Occupational Therapy?
The following are a few of the signs that occupational therapy services may be indicated for your child:
- Poor fine motor skills
- Poor handwriting
- Extra sensitive to touch, taste, sounds and/or odors
- Avoids new foods
- Exhibits clumsy movement or poor coordination
- Difficulty with jumping, skipping or running
- Poor social skills
- Falls frequently
- Avoids being touched or bathed
- Has difficulty with daily living skills (i.e., dressing, grooming, self-feeding)
- Frequent mood changes
- Weak or poor muscle tone
- Difficulty transitioning between tasks
- Avoids playground activities
Occupational therapists use a variety of treatments to help children reach their full potential. Some typical treatments include:
- Cognitive training
- Activities of daily living training
- Sensory integration
- Behavioral training
- Strengthening
- Fine-motor skill training
Click here to learn about our individual therapy and group therapy programs.
Here is a table of behaviors and actions you may notice and the system that may be the point of dysfunction:
Things you may notice: |
Look into this system |
Lack of balance, poor sense of being situated spatially in a room/bumps into things inadvertently, inability to locate sounds, problems using eyes to get a sense of space & surroundings |
Vestibular |
Poor coordination, drops things, bumps into to things purposefully, difficulty doing things that should seem 'natural' (e.g. walking, dressing, etc.), self-injurious actions (e.g. biting & hitting self) |
Proprioceptive |
Cannot perform fine motor activities without looking (e.g. tying shoes), is touch sensitive (e.g. shirt tags bother them, picky eater based on food texture, etc.); is a touch seeker (e.g. touching things other kids don't like, licking people and things, etc.) ; may not register pain or extreme temperate |
Tactile |
Difficulty copying/drawing/reading writing, has problems focusing on desired object (cannot screen out 'visual noise'), overly stimulated in crowd situations (classroom, church, etc..) |
Visual |
Does not appear to be listening when there is any other noises present (cannot screen out background noise); alarmed by everyday sounds (e.g. vacuum, school bell) or overwhelmed by loud sounds, certain sound pitches get VERY negative reaction, moving into a space with different acoustics seems to have affect on balance |
Auditory |
Kids that smell/sniff an unusual amount, severe aversion to normal smells |
Olfactory |
Severe aversion to normal tastes |
Gustatory |
Does Your Child Need Help With Feeding and Mealtimes?
An Occupational Therapist (link to Occupational Therapy section of INDIV THERAPY PAGE) can help a family with a child's feeding difficulty, whether it be a motor, sensory, or behavioral issue. It is important to educate parents with the knowledge and techniques which will translate to the child's natural environment.
Some signs that your child may have a feeding problem include:
- Difficult mealtime behaviors
- Increased crying, irritability or fussiness during mealtimes
- Eyes water or child turns head away at presentation of food or liquid
- Difficulty drinking from a bottle or cup
- Refusal to eat/drink or picky eating habits
- Limited intake of food throughout the day
- Refusal to allow food on hands; does not enjoy any textures on hands or face
- Overstuffs mouth with food, pockets food in cheeks or lets food rest on tongue
- Poor nutritional status, weight gain and growth
- Delay in developmental feeding achievement
- Choking, gagging, coughing and vomiting during feeding
- Hyper/hypo sensitive response to oral stimulation or presentation of food
- Decreased ability to manage food/liquid orally (spillage from mouth, leaking from nose)
- Difficulty moving between levels of food textures
- Inability to maintain oral skills
- Difficulty sucking, swallowing, biting or chewing
- Food or swallowing phobias
- Lengthy mealtimes (longer than 30 minutes)