What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational Therapy is skilled intervention that helps individuals achieve greater success and independence in all aspects of their daily lives. For children this can mean developing skills that improve a child's ability to play, participate in school related activities (both academically and recreationally), and ability to complete activities of daily living (eating/feeding, dressing, chores, grooming, etc).
More Information on Occupational Therapy >>
OccupationalTherapists offer evaluations of, and treatment to improve...
- Sensory processing
- Fine motor development
- Gross motor development as it relates to coordination, balance, motor planning and postural stability
- Oral motor and feeding skills
- Visual perceptual skills
- Handwriting skills
- Activities of daily living
- Play
Swing for the Stars provides evaluations and treatment for children with...
- Sensory processing disorder (SPD)
- Autism spectrum disorder (autism, PDD, Aspergers Syndrome)
- Learning disabilities
- Non-verbal learning disability
- Attention deficit disorder
- Fine motor, gross motor and coordination disorders
- Down Syndrome
- Fragile X
- Cerebral Palsy
- Developmental Delay
- Mood/Emotional Disorders
Common observations that indicate a child might benefit from an occupational therapy evaluation:
Sensory Observations
- Sensitve to clothing (too tight, too loose, textures of fabrics, etc)
- Picky eater regarding food temperatures, tastes, textures, etc. or unusually messy eater
- Avoids playground equipment; may hesitate going up or down stairs or walking across uneven surfaces
- Dislikes or avoids having hair cut and/or brushed, nails trimmed, hair washed, etc
- Tends to break toys/crayons more easily; uses too much force during play
- Sensitivity to sounds; overreacts to loud or unexpected sounds, behavior deteriorates in busy environments
Motor Observations
- Delay in meeting motor milestones (crawling, walking, etc)
- Fatigues more quickly than peers with fine motor or handwriting tasks
- Messy handwriting; frequent letter reversals, inconsistency with size and spacing of letters
- Seems clumsier or more accident prone than his/her peers
- Low muscle tone; seems weak or floppy, trouble sitting upright at circle time or while seated in a chair for extended periods of time
- Seems to tire more easily than peers during physical activities (sports, extracurricular activities)
- Bumps into furniture, people or objects in the environment, with little awareness of where body is in space
- Seems to need more practice than others to learn or maintain a newly learned skill
- Struggles with performing/sequencing multi-step motor tasks
Behavioral Observations
- Frequently says, “I can’t” or won’t initiate participating in new or less familiar tasks
- Tends to be overly active; has trouble slowing down his/her body; may exhibit a shorter attention span by moving more quickly from one activity to the next
- Has difficult with transitions or changes in routine and expectations; is rigid or becomes upset when plans change
- Unable to settle down; difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep throughout the night
- Has poor self-esteem, lacks self- confidence, struggles socially with peers
