Occupational Therapy and Children
The goal of occupational therapy for children and infants is to assist them to the highest level possible to achieve age appropriate play, leisure, developmental, educational, and self-help skills. Using purposeful activities appropriate for each child. Occupational therapists work to improve the deficits that are caused by disease, injury, congenital deficits, disability, deprivation or developmental delay.
Conditions that May Require Occupational and/or Physical Therapy
- Developmental delays
- Learning disabilities
- Delayed motor development
- Sensory Integrative Dysfunction
- Arthritis
- Neurological conditions
- Orthopedic conditions
- Prematurity
- Visual Difficulties
- Delayed Coordination
- Decreased Muscle strength
- Decreased muscle endurance
- Unable to keep up with peers
- Osteoporosis
- Feeding difficulties
Signs That a Child May Benefit From Occupational Therapy
- Impaired academic performance
- Difficulty processing information or following directions
- Poor organization of self or materials
- Reverses letters or shapes
- Hyperactivity
- Distractible; poor attention span
- Poor fine motor skills (grasp of pencil, eye-had coordination, cutting, etc.)
- Poor visual perceptual skills (spatial relations, right/left discrimination, motor planning, shape and form constancy, sensory/body awareness)
- Difficulty with eating; drooling, or gagging
- Behavior problems
- Developmental delay in cognitive, sensory, or motor skills
