What is occupational therapy?
Occupational Therapists work with children who have developmental or educational difficulties and/or those who do not demonstrate age appropriate behaviours and abilities in one or more of the following areas:
Cognition – Perceiving, storing and using information in order to solve problems; understanding relationships between people and objects, time and space, cause and effect.
Physical - Integrating reflexes to develop voluntary movement patterns; orienting to and processing sensation from the body and stimuli from the environment; developing motor skills, balance and equilibrium reactions; muscle tone; eye-hand co-ordination, grasp-release and manipulation of objects.
Communication - Developing breathing, sucking, blowing which are precursors to speech and which impact on the ability to produce speech.
Social/Emotional Development - Interacting with peers and adults; developing coping strategies and self-regulatory behaviours appropriate to the situation or activity.
Adaptive/Self Help Skills - Feeding, dressing, toileting and other hygiene skills; awareness of environmental dangers
These areas are treated using a variety of different techniques ranging from simple exercises to improve strength and endurance to more complex school or home programmes. Specific therapy approaches such as NDT (Neuro-developmental technique) sensory integration therapy and perceptual-motor therapy may be used.
The ultimate aim for an Occupational Therapist is for the child to be as functional and independent as possible.
Services currently offered by Binoh occupational therapists
- Individual Therapy in schools, family centres and clients’ homes
- Group Therapy, where appropriate
- Assessment and Screening
- Home/School programmes
- Review meetings
- Advice on IEPs
- Statementing advice
- Advice on equipment/provision of equipment via JCD library
- Liaison with other agencies
- Inset/Presentation for schools
- After-school handwriting club
