Whether your child has been diagnosed with slight delay in motor skills or was left with a brain injury that has caused difficulty in cognition, coordination, and comprehension, occupational therapy can help him/her improve his physical, motor, sensory, and cognitive skills. This can enhance his self esteem, and give him/her heightened sense of accomplishment.
It’s an occupational therapist’s responsibility to evaluate a child’s skills in dealing with daily activities, school, and play and to compare them with skills that are developmentally appropriate for his or her age group. It is best to find an occupational therapist that does not only know how to deal with your child’s physical well-being but also other psychological, environmental, and social factors that may affect how your child function, as per the AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) standards. This holistic approach is vital in providing optimal occupational therapy treatment for children.
Pediatric occupational therapy involves various activities that can help your child cope with everyday functions. Goals of devised by an occupational therapist can be some of the following tasks:
- Help him/her or her work on basic and fine motor skills such as grasping and releasing toys
- Work on ways to develop good handwriting skills
- Address problems with hand-eye coordination to improve play and work skills like copying from a blackboard, hitting a target, etc.
- Teach kids with severe developmental delays basic tasks like bathing, brushing their teeth, getting dressed, and feeding themselves
- Teach kids with physical disabilities basic coordination skills that are needed to do things like feed themselves, increase legibility and speed of handwriting, and use a computer.
- Help those with behavioral disorders learn techniques to manage their behavior through utilizing sensory regulation strategies
- Evaluate the need for specialized equipment, like splints, dressing devices, wheelchairs, communication aids, etc.