How Does Occupational Therapy Support My Child?

Jan 12

Occupational Therapists help people participate in meaningful everyday activities. We refer to these meaningful daily life activities as Occupations. Occupations are central to an individual's identity and provide meaning and value.

Occupational therapist have 8 major occupations or activities that guide the Framework of their practice:

Primary Occupations

Sleep
- actual sleep duration and quality
- sleep hygiene
- rest
Play (Kid’s Primary Occupation)
- How children love to learn!
- appropriate play
- Provides enjoyment or entertainment
leisure
- enjoyed activities done in free time
ADL’s (self care)
- bathing
- toileting
- dressing
- feeding
IADL’s
- chores
- meal preparation
- shopping
Education
- Formal education
- Informal education
social participation
- community saftey
work
- employment
- self-employment
- volunteering

Evaluation and Activity Planning

OT’s help children on the spectrum gain autonomy and independence by evaluating a child's participation in these occupations and investigating what factors are limiting performance.

Starts with an assessment
- Formal evaluation
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
- Medical review
Therapist then work on the skills that are limiting your child's ability to complete the desired occupation.
Typical Skills that OT's address are:
- Social/emotional Skills
  - Negotiation skills
  - Perspective taking
  - Interoception (how my body feels when I’m mad or sad or happy)
  - Conflict resolution
  - Communication
    - yes/no
    - pointing
    - self-expression
- Sensory processing skills
  - Ability to navigate and understand the sensory world
  - We all use senses to process the world but when there are sensory processing or modulation difficulties we may be taking in too much input, not enough input and it may be difficult to process and understand or even just overwhelming.
- Cognitive and executive functioning skills
  - planning
  - focus
  - sequencing
  - memory
- Physical motor skills, and coordination
  - Oral-motor skills
  - Hand-eye coordination
  - Bilateral movements
- Environmental Adaptations
  - School supports
  - Home programs
  - Community advocacy
- Habits, routines,
  - small habit changes lead to foundational lifestyle changes.

How to Maximize Therapy Outcomes

Ask questions and be curious
- If the therapist doesn’t know, it gives them an opportunity to learn or find resources to help you answer any questions.
- Write the questions down somewhere
- What does this activity help with
- How can we work on...?
- Therapist love to learn
Follow -thru with home programing
- Our time with your child is limited so we can maximize outcomes with home programs or applying strategies throughout the week.
- Try executing home program 1x a week
Try to engage and be a participant during therapy sessions to include providing any relevant updates or ideas:
- Health changes
- New hobbies/habits
- Triggers
- Meltdowns

Let’s recap

The major occupations that OT’s address for children on the spectrum include:
1. Sleep
2. Play
3. Leisure activities
4. Activities of Daily living (self-care)
5. Instrumental Activities of daily living (chores)
6. Education
7. Social participation
8. work
OT’s help children on the spectrum gain autonomy with these occupations by evaluating and addressing:
1. social/emotional Skills
2. Sensory processing skills
3. Cognitive and executive functioning skills
4. Physical motor skills, and coordination
5. Environmental demands and adaptations
6. Habits and routines
Maximize OT services by
1. Asking questions
2. Follow -thru with home programing
3. Collaborating and updating therapist on changes or concerns