Occupational Therapy

Who can benefit from Occupational Therapy ? 

Children who have a diagnosed disability or who display a need for assistance with everyday childhood roles involving self care, learning, and playing​.  Children who may ​display one or more characteristics in the following areas;

Sensory/Gross Motor

• ​Trips over a lot
• No sense of danger or scared of heights
• “Accident prone” – always bumping into things
• Appears floppy, and awkward in movement tasks
• Poor balance
• Problems learning new motor tasks (often dislikes outdoor activities)
• Only eats specific types of food
• Becomes overly upset at unexpected sensory input eg touch, noise
• Chews non-food objects a lot
• Has difficulty calming themselves once upset

Fine Motor

• Immature drawing skills
• Dislikes eye-hand coordination tasks
• Immature pencil grip
• Poor handwriting – messy, slow to write
• Poor scissors skills
• Generally poor performance at fine manipulative tasks
• Difficulty learning new fine motor tasks
• Tires easily when performing fine motor tasks, especially pencil skills​

Visual Perception

• Letter reversals eg b/d
• Lacks concentration with visual tasks
• Difficulties copying from the blackboard
• Poor spelling/reading
• Can’t find place on the page
• Poor visual memory​

Self care/Behavioural

• Difficulties dressing self, putting on shoes

• Cannot use appropriate utensils to eat (ie spoon, knife and fork)

• Difficulties with mastering toiletting skills, hand washing

• Disorganised

• Poor concentration,

• Immature social skills

• Difficulty falling/staying asleep​​​​