According to our national organization, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
".....Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations). Common occupational therapy interventions include helping children with disabilities to participate fully in school and social situations, helping people recovering from injury to regain skills, and providing supports for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes. Occupational therapy services typically include:
Occupational therapy services may include comprehensive evaluations of the client’s home and other environments (e.g., workplace, school), recommendations for adaptive equipment and training in its use, and guidance and education for family members and caregivers. Occupational therapy practitioners have a holistic perspective, in which the focus is on adapting the environment to fit the person, and the person is an integral part of the therapy team. (Taken from http://www.aota.org/Consumers.aspx) |
The "Player" (Birth to Age 5)
"The Player" is the child from birth to school aged (about 4 years old). Play is by far the most important part of a young child's life, and not just because it allows for some "quiet" time for parents. Play is how young children learn about their environment. They crawl, climb, jump, hop, run and fall to learn about how their body movements. As they practice movements through play, they become more efficient at coordinating their bodies. They stack blocks, dig in dirt, scribble with crayons and rip up paper to figure out how to move their fingers and develop hand strength for more advanced skills, like printing, cutting and manipulate materials in their environment. They look at and analyze everything, to get an understanding of size, space and direction. They play on playground equipment or snuggle in a pop tent to learn what calms or excites their body. To be successful at player, a child must have age appropriate ore, fine motor, visual motor, visual perceptual and sensory processing skills. Play is the foundation of learning.
The Student (Age 5+)
"The Student" is the child from five years old onward. To be successful as "The Student", a child must have a wide range of foundation skills. For example, a child must have the ability to self regulate their body to remain calm and focused for classroom instruction. They must be able to plan how to move their bodies to obtain classroom materials, navigate their way through the classroom and perform motor tasks in physical education. They must be able to make sense of what they see to recognize shapes, letters and numbers. They need to understanding how to move their fingers and hands to hold a pencil, color a page or write a letter. They also have to understand how to move their arms and hands together for cutting, tracing, or lacing. To be a successful student, a child must have age appropriate core, fine motor, visual motor, visual perceptual and sensory processing skills.
Problems in A Child's Occupation
A child may not be able to participate in their "occupations" for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's easy to understand why they are struggle, because they may have a diagnosed medical condition that impacts their skills, such as a traumatic brain injury (i.e. an anoxic event during birth), cerebral palsy, spinia bifidia, autism spectrum disorders, ADD, ADHD, etc. But most times, there is no specific "reason" why the child is having difficulty. This is sometimes called a "developmental delay". Whether it is diagnosed or just a caregiver instinct that the child is demonstrating age appropriate skills, the problems are usually the same. They include:
- Lacking core strength to support their body when performing play tasks
- Lacking finger or hand strength, control or coordination for handling and manipulating items in their environment
- Lacking an understanding of their body in space or how to move efficently to perform a task
- Impaired visual processing for making sense of what they see
- Impaired connections between the visual and motor part of the brain to perform tasks that involve eye hand coordination
- Lacking the ability to self calm or self arouse to engage in activites
Are YOU an OT?
If you are an Occupational Therapist who is interested in promoting the field of OT in your workplace, check out my Occupational Therapy Bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers, complete with interactive games and competitions for staff, bulletin board decorations and ideas for promoting community awareness of the field. Click on the picture to take a look!
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