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What is Paediatric Occupational Therapy?

Paediatric occupational therapists work with children and young people with motor, sensory or cognitive difficulties, to help them maximise and maintain their independence in meaningful activities of daily living (ADL). 
For children and young people, their activities of daily living focus on Self-Care, School, and Play/Leisure. Occupational Therapy intervention seeks to help a child gain functional skills in these areas which can improve a child’s participation and confidence, access to learning opportunities and social relationships. 

Your child may benefit from Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention if you see any of the following:

Fine motor skills:

Hand dominance not yet established, trouble opening containers, or frequently dropping items. Struggling to fasten buttons/zips or tie shoe laces. Difficulty with drawing, copying shapes or colouring-in. Awkward approach to using scissors. Difficulty using a knife and fork.

Gross Motor skills:

Difficulty with running, jumping, hopping, throwing and catching a ball, riding a bike, appears clumsy or uncoordinated in PE/Sports. 

Organisation/Planning:

Difficulty putting clothes on in the right sequence or putting clothes on back to front or inside out. Struggles with organising their belongings. Finds it challenging to copy motor movements/action songs. Difficulty assuming the body positions required for motor activities or performing new motor sequences.​

Visual Perception skills:

Struggles with completing puzzles such as jigsaws/mazes/spot the difference. Difficulty sorting/matching objects according to shape, size and colour. Trouble copying 3D models/designs. ​

Handwriting:

Awkward pencil grasp, using heavy or light pencil pressure. Struggling to copy from the board. Poor letter formation and/or letter/number reversals. Poor organisation of their written work on a page e.g. spacing, sizing, alignment. Slow to complete written work.

Sensory:

Always ‘on the go’, difficulty sitting still, easily distracted, poor sleep patterns.  Can frequently bump into people/furniture and seem unaware of their body position in space. Shows distress at unexpected and/or loud noises. Show distress to being touched, difficulty standing in line or close to others, unable to wear certain textures of clothing. Avoids messy play activities or dislikes getting their hands dirty. Shows distress in grooming tasks e.g. brushing/washing/cutting hair, nail cutting, teeth brushing. Seems excessively fearful of using playground equipment or going up & down stairs/lifts/escalators. Difficulty judging the amount of force/pressure needed for a task. ​​

If you are not sure if your child requires the help of an Occupational Therapist, we are happy to discuss your individual needs with you.  Contact ‘Treetop Kids’ for more information and to find out how we can help.

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