Occupational Therapy facilitates, instructs, models, encourages, and modifies the performance of activities required in daily life.
Occupational therapy is a treatment option for those who have developmental delays, congenital diagnosis, sensory-motor dysfunction, social-emotional behavior concerns, traumatic/physical loss of function, mental and/or learning impairment.
Pediatric occupational therapy focuses on assessing and treating physical, sensory-motor, social-emotional, behavioral, psychological, cognitive, and academic difficulties discovered through evaluation. OT can improve self-esteem by providing a sense of accomplishment in activities of daily living and peer relations, and also addresses many symptoms commonly associated with anxiety, depression, avoidance, or anger.
Therapy may focus on:
- Fine motor coordination for handwriting, cutting, drawing shapes, keyboarding, feeding with utensils, manipulatives and fasteners (e.g., zippers), and development of dynamic tripod grasp and pincer patterns (necessary for legible handwriting and other tasks).
- Improve sensory detection and response, building a foundation for many cognitive and emotional responses.
- Support individuals with social-emotional and behavioral problems to utilize various forms of expression to better cope across social and play scenarios.
- Develop attention and memory, along with improving task follow through.
- Improve visual-perceptual abilities across letters, numbers, shapes, mazes, puzzles, and 3-dimensional construction.
- Improve neuromuscular abilities with strengthening, balance, agility, reciprocal movements, crossing midline, sustained postures, ball play, targeting, timing and rhythm.