When I have caregivers in during my evaluations, the first question I’ll ask is: “Are you familiar with occupational therapy?” And honestly, the most common answer I get is no.
My name is Jennifer Hatch and I am a pediatric occupational therapist at Fluens Children’s Therapy. Today, I’m going to be talking a little bit about occupational therapy and what it is that we truly do.
What Do Occupational Therapists Address?
In occupational therapy, we work on occupations, or the things that occupy your time throughout the day. That’s where the name “occupational” therapy comes from. There are eight main occupations that we address, as follows.
1. Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
These are your self-care skills like:
- Bathing or showering
- Toileting and potty training
- Getting dressed
- Feeding and using utensils
2. Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)
These are your more mundane day-to-day tasks, such as:
- Managing money
- Grocery shopping
- Cleaning the house (or for kiddos, doing chores)
3. Rest and Sleep
It kind of goes without saying, but this is your ability to get a good night’s rest, whether that is establishing a bedtime routine or regulation before you go to bed so that you can get a full eight hours of sleep, because sleep is very essential for overall cognitive functioning. It can hinder development if we’re not getting adequate sleep.
4. Education
We address things like:
- Attention at school
- Following directions
- Peer interactions
- Fine motor skills for academic tasks like handwriting, cutting, and coloring
5. Work
This is usually more relevant to the adult population and focuses on managing daily tasks. This is where we address things like ergonomics. For kids, their “job” is really play and school, which is where pediatric OT places its focus.
6. Play
Play is essential for development in children. That’s why OT is so play-based, because it’s how kids learn best. We look at:
- General play skills
- Social play
- Interaction with the environment
7. Leisure
Again, this one is more applicable to older kids and adults. It includes activities you enjoy in your free time, like sewing, drawing, cooking, or baking. Anything that you like to do that you’re struggling with, occupational therapists can help in that area.
8. Social Participation
This is the ability to communicate and interact with your community appropriately. It ties into play and social development for kids.
Why Would a Child Need Occupational Therapy?
Now let’s talk about some common reasons a child might need OT. These usually tie back to the occupations we just talked about. In pediatric therapy, the main areas we focus on are:
- Education
- Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
- Sleep
- Social participation
- Play
If your child is struggling at home with self-care tasks, having difficulty succeeding at school, or facing sensory, behavioral, fine motor, or gross motor challenges, occupational therapy could help. We also support kids who are struggling socially, whether that’s in play or in their broader community interactions.
If you have a question as to whether it’s something that an OT would address, you can give us a call and I’d be more than happy to talk to you and see if there’s something that we can do. But with us having such a large scope of practice, I can probably guarantee that we can help you in just about any way that is needed.
What Does a Typical OT Session Look Like?
A typical OT session with me is about 45 minutes two times a week, though it may vary depending on the client. Our sessions are very play-based because play is the most important occupation for kids, so it’s the foundation of how we build and support their skills in therapy.
We want it to be fun and engaging for the kids. We don’t want them to feel like they’re doing work. That means we’re:
- Sitting on the floor for play
- Using a crash pad or a swing
- Exploring all sorts of sensory activities
If we’re working on things like attention or following directions, we’ll also include more structured tasks. That might be:
- Seated activities at the table
- Pre-writing or handwriting exercises
- Fun fine motor activities like coloring or cutting
Call Fluens Children’s Therapy for Expert Support
If you have concerns about your child’s development (whether at home, school, or out in the community), or if you’ve noticed they’re having some fine motor difficulties, give us a call. We would love to get you in for an evaluation.
Give us a call at 253-212-3502 today.