The changes that take part, the different transitions in a child's life, all prepare him for adult living. From his infancy to toddlerhood, from getting into grade school then to a higher level, a lot of activities should be participated in to aid his development. But when there are impairments in his cognitive, physical, and motor skills, it would be very hard for him to get past the different stages successfully. With this matter, occupational therapy comes in. Yes! They may not have occupations but let us come to think that a child has his main jobs: to play and to learn.
Occupational Therapy is geared towards improving the quality of life by preparing him to become independent to face transitions despite the disabilities he possesses. It is one of the responsibilities of occupational therapists to address the child's deficits on psychological, social and environmental areas, which cause an effect on his normal functioning. With early childhood transitions, they are geared to achieve with the child having successful preschool and kindergarten experiences, develop balance for work and play of the child, and learn independence in self-care and daily living routines. As development continues and moves up to a higher step, the aims become more of sustenance and turn out to be more complex. The child is to develop and sustain positive work habits and skills, achieve success at technical schools or colleges, and learn strategies for successful community living, enhancing the social being in him.
According to the American Occupational Therapy Association or AOTA, children with the following medical problems might benefit from Occupational Therapy: those with birth injuries or birth defects, sensory processing disorders, traumatic injuries (brain or spinal cord), learning problems, autism/pervasive developmental disorders, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, mental health or behavioral problems, broken bones or other orthopedic injuries, developmental delays, post-surgical conditions, burns, Spina bifida, traumatic amputations, Cancer, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and other chronic illnesses which may affect his development.
Aside from the developmental needs arising from these medical conditions wherein occupational therapists need to address, there are also deficits in the kid's abilities inside the classroom that needs interventions to support the learning task. The program is what we call School-based occupational therapy. Objectives are devised short-term with long-term goals for each student to meet. The students receive assistance from trained professionals to correct skills, and these OT's stay in contact with the guardians of the child for progress until goals are achieved. The following are examples of skills to be addressed: holding a pencil or any writing utensil properly, pencil pressure too hard or too light, writing letters and numbers (proportion, formation and/or placement), staying focused on a classroom lesson, learning to adapt to sensory stimuli, buttoning/zipping clothes, poor printing legibility, poor organization of work on page, inadequacy of time to complete written work, difficulty in copying from the book or board, and poor posture when writing or performing any tasks on his desk.
Therapists evaluate the child's skills for playing and coordination, school performance and daily activities such as bathing, feeding, grooming and others, and compare them with what is appropriate for their developmental level. These not only improve their skills but enhance their sense of worth and of accomplishment as well.
If your child does have special needs to be addressed by an expert, then try to talk it out with your doctor or your child's guidance counselor, and see if having an occupational therapist could be an antidote to the problem.
If a career as an occupational therapy seems like something you could be interested in you can search for occupational therapy assistant schools right now by clicking the featured links to our free online Occupational Therapy Guide.