What exactly does a pediatric occupational therapist do?
- Supports children with delays, disabilities, and learning challenges from premature babies to teenage years.
- Provides carefully designed activities to expand functional capabilities and coping behaviors that enable a child to be an active learner.
- Provide specific methodologies to support child’s optimal functional performance.
- Engages children in enriched sensory and motor experiences that serve as the foundation for higher-level learning, functional and behavioral competencies.
- Understands the importance of purposeful activities of daily tasks, such as eating, playing, moving and interacting with others in a variety of environments.
- Has strong background knowledge in child development, including child psychology, social-emotional and cognitive development. Occupational therapists are experts in pediatric physical development, sensory processing skills and self-care skills.
- Analyzes, adapts, structures, and modifies activities to challenge and support child’s performance.
- Provides research-based interventions to help children cope and overcome their learning challenges and achieve their goals.
- Supports and educates families how to promote the development of a child’s specific skills.
- Has a critical role to help children grow into independent adults.
- Helps children live life to its fullest.
Who benefits from pediatric occupational therapy?
Pediatric occupational therapy services support children who have challenges with developing their skills. Children who benefit from pediatric occupational therapy might have specific diagnoses such as; Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADD/ADHD, Down’s Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, Cerebral Palsy, delays in motor skills, challenges with sensory integration and other conditions that relate to the neuro-developmental performance of child’s development.
What happens during pediatric occupational therapy session?
Every child is unique and has their own specific needs and interests. The therapist must know and anticipate the individual desires of each child. Children participate in play and research-based therapy sessions that address a child’s specific areas of developmental challenges. Children work and enjoy different therapeutic programs, such as gross and fine motor development sessions, sensory integration treatments, social-emotional and behavioral methodologies, to name a few. Therapy sessions are fun and playful; children do not realize they are working hard. All programs improve the child’s ability to develop her/his skills of need and reach optimal functional potential, as a child at play, student and a life-learner.
Invest in Play
Pediatric Occupational Therapy helps children with becoming more independent and functional individuals within their environments. A premature baby works hard on tummy time, a toddler explores with movement, a preschooler works on building with blocks, and kindergartner improves drawing skills. Families with specific developmental concerns for their children are discovering the benefits and effectiveness of occupational therapy. Investing in your child’s early childhood development is key to learning success.
