What does an Occupational therapist do?
An occupational therapist helps a child master the skills necessary for their "job."  Since a child’s "job" is to play, learn, and participate in daily and social activities, an occupational therapist helps a child develop the skills necessary for independence in these activities. 

Occupational therapists work on the following:

Fine motor skills

• Difficulty with tasks that use the hands or fingers, especially activities that require precise finger movements (i.e. tying shoes, buckling, zipping, buttoning, drawing, using scissors, putting small pieces together, using proper pencil grip, pinching objects between fingers, isolating finger movements, using utensils, etc…)

Activities of Daily Living

• Difficulty with feeding, dressing, bathing, toileting, using knobs, locks, switches, etc…

Self Help Skills

• Difficulty with attention, organization, planning, execution, physical control

Feeding Therapy

• Difficulty with positioning or self feeding

Adaptive Equipment

• When devices are needed to help an individual be more independent in activities of daily living, the occupational therapist is the expert in identifying the equipment which would maximize a person’s independence in activities of daily living.

Sensory Integration/Regulation

• Difficulty with using and combining our senses to make sense of our environment

Visual Motor Skills

• Difficulty with Hand-eye coordination

If your child has difficulty in any of these areas, talk to a staff member about an Occupational Therapy Evaluation or Treatment Program.