What is OccuPational TherapY?
Occupational therapy (OT) is a branch of health care that promotes independence in all areas of life. OT for children focuses on 4 main domains: adaptive, cognitive, social, and motor skills. OT for children also focuses on sensory processing, which impacts how a child perceives and navigate their environment. Below you will find descriptions for each domain OT focuses on.
Cognitive skills
Focus areas for cognitive skills include but are not limited to : following 1-step and/or multi-step commands, attending to tasks, recall memory, sequencing and more.
Social skills
Focus areas for social skills include imitating gestures, learning basic ASL for communication, sharing/turn taking and more.
Adaptive skills
Focus areas for adaptive skills include but are not limited to manipulating zippers/buttons for clothing management, utilizing utensils, drinking from an open cup and more.
Motor skills
Focus areas for motor skills include but are not limited to prewriting skills, dexterity, fine motor strenghtening, simple obstacle courses aimed to improve standing balance/motor coordination and more.
Sensory processing
Focus areas for sensory processing skills include but are not limited to individualized sensory diets, sensory tools such as wobble cushions, weighted tools, education and more.
Feeding Difficulties
Focus areas for feeding difficulties include but are not limited to increasing food bank, improving oral motor strength to decrease fatigue while eating, improving oral motor skills to demonstrate appropriate rotary chew and more.