What is OT?
An occupational therapist is a regulated, licenced health care professional who is required to have a masters university level education in occupational therapy. Occupational therapists are experts at assessing a person’s skills to determine their abilities (This can include assessment of physical, cognitive, sensory, visual perceptual, psychosocial, fine and gross motor skills and takes in to account development and changes across the lifespan) as well as breakdown the task and analyze the environment to determine how to progress and tackle these challenges using evidence-based strategies. What we do every day is most often best addressed within context and so therapists will often assess and work with kids where and when they typically are performing the challenging task.
How we help
Occupational therapists help children and their families to participate in their everyday life activities and community. For kids this means play, looking after themselves, and participating at school and in the community. We help them to participate and be as independent as possible by exploring how they move, how they learn, and how the experience and makes sense of the world around them. By working in partnership with families and caregivers we help to determine their abilities and how to build on them, how to adapt or change the task and what can be changed in the environment to promote success and increase their independence.
Who would benefit
Caregivers and professionals frequently come to us when a child is not meeting developmental expectations or to address minor concerns before they have a significant impact. It may be a child already identified to be facing unexpected challenges, or they may have difficulty in just one particular area. Areas of concern commonly identified are:
Self Care Occupations (self-help skills)
- mealtime & sensory feeding
- tooth brushing, hygiene & toileting
- dressing skills
- sleep
Productive Occupations (play & learning)
- play skills
- pencil grasp
- colouring & drawing
- cutting with scissors
- written output
- sitting still
- difficulty with transitions
- personal space issues
Leisure Occupations
- community participation
- gross motor skills & participating in extracurricular activities
Other frequently cited concerns include:
- Accessibility to technology and environments
- Recommendations and support for adaptive equipment and devices
Other common reasons for referral:
- Sensory regulation
- Visual perceptual problems
- Motor planning & coordination
Muscle strength, tone, range of motion
Who we support
An idea of who we support includes but is not limited to:
- Those looking for individualized support to encourage continued development
- Those who are struggling but are undiagnosed
- Sensory Processing Disorders
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Developmental Coordination Disorder
- Developmental Delays
- Fetal alcohol Syndrome
- Mental Health Challenges
- Down Syndrome
- Cerebral Palsy
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Syndromes and other rare disorders
- ADHD
- Learning Disabilities
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Acquired injuries- brain injury/stroke etc.
- Supporting post-surgical clients (to promote independence, or maximize recovery)
