Occupational Therapy: What to expect…

Talkative Allied Health Services' Occupational Therapist (OT), Abbey Douglass, unpacks what you can expect when you visit an OT.

Occupational Therapists work with children of all ages and their families to support them across a broad range of areas. Occupational Therapy can help to improve a child’s cognition, physical, sensory and motor skills, help them to understand and manage their feelings and emotions and support them in daily activities.

Your OT will address psychological, social and environmental factors that may affect functioning in different ways. This holistic approach can be a vital part of health care and development for children.

Occupational therapy can help your child in many fun, engaging and unique ways.

OTs can help:

• Support children to work on fine motor skills to help with tasks including handwriting, dressing and undressing, feeding and grasp and release; important in play and development of many skills.
• Support children who struggle with planning and organisation of everyday activities like morning or afternoon routines, packing and unpacking their school bag or lunch box, cooking or making food and planning their day of activities.
• Address hand-eye co-ordination to improve skills needed for play and school.
• Help children with developmental delays to learn important daily tasks including bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, toileting and feeding.
• Support children with behavioural problems to identify, manage and maintain positive behaviour in different environments.
• Support children to learn about, identify and manage emotions in a positive and socially appropriate way.
• Evaluate and assist children who require physical support through equipment.
• Work with children who have sensory and attention issues to improve focus and self- regulation.

The sooner a child starts OT, the more effective it will be. The benefits can range from physical and cognitive developmental advances, activities in daily life, play skills, pre-school and school, behavioural, social and emotional, self-confidence and many more.

Booking to see your OT:

Before seeing your OT with your child and/or family, you may need to provide some details about the concerns you may have for your child and any important background information. We will then create a plan and begin working towards the right type of services for you and your child, and then set up an appointment to begin.

When you attend your OT appointment, your OT will make sure your child feels relaxed, comfortable, happy and engaged. Your OT may conduct some formalised assessments, make general observations, play with your child and build their relationship to best support your child. Following the first appointment, you will have a clear plan in mind about future sessions, therapy goals and what you can do to support your child at home. The therapy goals will be set in collaboration with you, your child, your family and personal circumstances.

Contact Talkative Allied Health Services’ Reception to talk more about our Occupational Therapy services and how we can help you via our contact page.