The primary occupation of children is play. Through play, children learn the foundation of skills necessary for success in school, among peers, and in activities of daily living. Occupational therapists assess, utilize, and adapt everyday activities to improve function, enhance performance, promote health, and increase independence in Children. Occupational Therapist identifies areas of need and develops creative solutions to address these areas while respecting kid's background and culture and valuing their quality of life.
Children with the following medical problems may benefit from Occupation Therapy:
Although both types of therapy help kids improve the quality of their lives, there are differences. Physical therapy deals with the issues of pain, strength, joint range of motion, endurance, and gross motor functioning, whereas Occupational Therapy deals more with fine motor skills, visual-perceptual skills, cognitive skills, and sensory-processing deficits.
Occupational therapy treatment is necessary when several areas of performance are affected.
An occupational therapy evaluation assesses a child's gross motor skills, fine motor skills, visual motor skills, handwriting skills, daily living skills, oral motor skills, and sensory processing skills. The use of standardized assessment tools, non-standardized assessment tools, parent interview, and clinical observations are done to assess the child's performance.
Attention Deficit Disorder describes a behavior of persistent inattention that is more common and severe than in typical children of the same level of development. Attention Deficit Disorder is now classified as a separate category from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder because not all children with the disorder are hyperactive.
Autism is a developmental disability that affects how the brain functions, specifically those areas of the brain that control social ability and communication skills. Children with autism typically have difficulty in both verbal and nonverbal communication. They may have a difficulty in relating to the outside world and may have unusual reactions to the people around them. Children with autism may demonstrate aggressive behavior that may cause injury to themselves or others. The disorder also may cause sensitivity to the senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.
A learning disability is not a problem with intelligence, often the individual's IQ falls within the normal range. Children and adults with a learning disorder have trouble processing sensory information, which interferes in their daily activities at school and work. They see, hear and understand things differently. A child with a learning disability cannot try harder, pay closer attention, or improve motivation on their own; they need help to learn how to do those things.
Many children have problem in their academics due to poor handwriting especially dyslexia (learning difficulty). Handwriting is a complex process of managing written language by coordinating the eyes, arms, hands, pencil grip, letter formation, and body posture. The development of a child's handwriting can provide clues to developmental problems that may hinder the child's learning.
Occupational therapy can provide intervention that helps children to develop appropriate social, play, and learning skills. The therapist aids the child in achieving and maintaining normal daily tasks.
Treatment focuses mainly on sensory integration therapy, which includes vestibular, Proprioceptive and tactile stimulation.
Sensory integration (SI) is the process of receiving, organizing, and interpreting input, becoming the basis for motor planning, learning and behavior. When this process is disorganized, it is called Sensory Integration Dysfunction.
For Example rope ladder, a sensory ball pool, tunnel and vestibular equipment like swings etc., to address the many aspects of sensory integration and processing skills, including sensory awareness; visual spatial awareness; body integration; balance; fine, gross and bilateral motor coordination; visual-motor integration; praxis; muscle and joint integrity; self-care skills; and handwriting skills.
Occupational therapy thus plays an important role in improving the functional abilities of the children and promotes independence in their day-to-day activities.