Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapist can help a child, who has difficulties in;
Gross motor skills (large-muscle movements made with the arms, legs, feet, or entire body)

Fine motor skills (small-muscle movements made with the hands, fingersand toes, such as grasping)

Visual-perceptual skills (in case of reading, writing etc.)

Cognitive skills (thinking, problem solving etc.)

Sensory-processing problems (fear from height, hyperactivity, problems related to touch sensation, problem in chewing, excessive lethargy, problem in maintaining balance etc.)

Self-care Skills (Brushing, Dressing-Undressing, Grooming, Eating, Drinking etc.)

When should parents consult an Occupational Therapist?
The parents of a pre school going children (age of 1.5 years to 3 years)

• In case of developmental delay:like, delay in sitting, standing, walking, lack of balance, delay in speech etc.
• In case of cognitive-perceptual deficit:like, lack of eye contact, lack of social interactions, problem in understanding simple commands, problem to cope up with surroundings, lack of interest to play with toys, hyperactivity etc.
• In case of sensory motor deficits: Problem in holding objects, problem in crossing small obstacles, problem in picking up small objects, excessive crying, problem in touch sensation etc.

The parents of school going children (age of 4 years to 12 years)

• In case of hyperactivity, excessive lethargy, attention deficits, problem in following small instructions,
• Problem in selfcare, like, brushing, eating, dressing-undressing, toileting, sleeping, nail cutting and hair cutting etc.,
• Lack of problem-solving skills like, arranging school bag before going to school, solving simple puzzles etc, learning disability, problem in hand writing etc.

The parents of children with special needs (age of 3 years to 12 years)

Cerebral palsy, Attention Deficits and Hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), Downs syndrome, Autism, Children identified with learning disabilities, Children identified with developmental delay, Mental Retardation etc.

1. Occupational Therapy Services:
2. Assessment:
3. General Assessment: Detail assessments will be done for all children as per internationally recognize, graded and validated scales to identify the deficits, level of the children to advise therapeutic measures.
4. Self-care Assessment: Children identified with problems in self-care management will be assessed in detail and will be guided according to their performance level, according to the convenience of the parents, according to the inhouse environments of the child to make them independent in terms of self-care management in daily life.
5. Handwriting Assessment: Handwriting is a complex and a very unique activity in nature, it helps a child to express his/her thoughts, it helps to score goods marks in academic, it enhances problem solving skills for other aspects also. A detail assessment will be done to identify the fine hand function, eye hand coordination, visual perceptual skills, figure ground discrimination deficits etc. and management will be given accordingly to improve handwriting.
6. Therapeutic Managements:

Sensory Integration Therapy: Sensory integration therapy is very beneficial for the children with ADHD, Autism, Children with sleep disorder, Children with developmental delay (including delay in speech) etc. Through sensory integration therapy a therapist can normalize hypo and hypersensitivity of tactile sensation, vestibular sensation, auditory sensation, postural tone, gravitational insecurity (fear from height, fear from swing), motor planning, visual-upper and lower limbs-body coordination, sensation craving (restless ness) through jumping, running, tantrum throwing, problem in attention payingetc.

Play Therapy: It is very beneficial for children of all age group.Through unstructured play the child tries to understand the environment and he/she also develops muscle tone, body parts awareness, sensory motor coordination etc. Through structured and guided play, a therapist can enhance cognitive perceptual skills, sensory motor developments, overcoming the developmental delay (including delay in speech), making a kid with ADHDmore manageable, enhancing socio-cognitive-perceptual skills among children with Autism etc.

Management of Learning and Handwriting Disorders:

An Occupational Therapist plays most important role in case of acquisition of “Pre-Learning Skills” like building eye contact, attention paying, following the instructions, building sitting habits, enhancing problem solving skills etc. After that the occupational therapist works in close coordination with the Special Educator, Speech Therapist and Psychologist in terms of overcoming learning difficulties.

In case of handwriting management the occupational therapists advised the parents about goal setting, enhancing different skills like, fine motor skills, eye hand coordination skills, visual perceptual skills, normalizing the muscle tone, enhancing pencil grip pattern and grip strength, remembering different patterns and shapes of alphabets, maintaining legibility and proper spacing among letters, words and sentences etc.

Self-Care Management: Self care is one of the most important things in day to day life, a child with lack of selfcare skills suffers from low self-esteem, and their parents also feel helpless.An occupational therapist can enhance self-care skills through detailed task analysis, interviewing the parents, by understanding and judging the inhouse environment of the children.  With proper guidance and goal setting the child can be made almost independent in terms of regular activities like, brushing, toileting, bathing, dressing-undressing, grooming, eating, drinking etc.