Paediatric Occupational Therapy
The profession that supports Children and Young People to participate and engage in their full potential in self-care, school activities, community access and play/leisure. In Paediatric Occupational Therapy we consider all aspects of the child’s life; their unique character, their family life, their strengths and needs, the physical, psychological, social and environmental factors.
Find out more here: https://www.rcot.co.uk/about-occupational-therapy/what-is-occupational-therapy
Assessment
The process of collecting and analysing data related to the Child’s or Young Person’s occupational performance, family life, strengths and needs, preferences and aspirations. An Occupational therapy assessment may focus on various areas such as self-care, leisure/play, Community Access, participation in school and home tasks and safety. It includes interviews with the Child or Young Person, parents/carers, teachers and other professionals, direct contact with the Child or Young Person at home, community and /or school, depending on the concerns raised. Standardised assessments and non-standardised tools are used for an OT assessment.
Intervention
Following a comprehensive assessment, specific areas of need and targets are identified with the child and its family and an intervention plan is issued. This may include:
Self-care activities
These are the ones we do to take care of ourselves. Taking a bath, washing our teeth, dressing and undressing, eating and drinking and using the toilet are some of those. As a Paediatric Occupational Therapist I am supporting families to find ways to support the children’s and Young People’s reach higher levels of independence. Coaching parents, adapting the activities and using adapted tools are some tools used for this purpose.
Leisure/Play
An important aspect of children development and well-being. We will help you find play activities that are appropriate for your child and also help them develop, maintain or improve further their physical, sensory, cognitive and social skills.
Community Access
Many children and Young People struggle with accessing the community due to their communication, sensory and behavioural needs. We can help you identify ways to support them with this in order to participate and engage better in community-based activities such as coming with you to the supermarket, going to the park, going to a restaurant or using public transport by setting realistic aims and by utilising their preferences and strengths.
School programmes
Supporting our Children and Young People at their school is equally important as supporting them at home. We are providing a variety of services in schools including whole school training, group intervention and 1:1 intervention. Our aim is to support the learners’ self-care needs, participation in academic tasks with programmes, advice and guidance that is also looking at their sensory and behavioural needs. We are working closely with the school staff that support our learners and we liaise and meet with on a regular basis in order to identify school-based strengths and needs, offer support at school and ensure that the OT intervention is consistent across environments.
Home Programmes
We offer support to families with developing home programmes that include activities, strategies, advice and guidance to support the children’s and Young People’s needs in order to develop or improve their independence in self-care, their ability to participate in home-based activities such as helping with house chores but also participate in indoors leisure family activities such as playing games. Our programmes are based on the Children’s and Young People’s preferences, character and needs, and are realistic including activities and recommendations that families feel comfortable with implementing.
Home Safety Adaptations
Many children with complex needs demonstrate challenging behaviour which sometimes puts them or others at risk. We can help you with conducting a comprehensive home safety assessment and recommend home adaptations that will keep your child safer at home. Necessary referrals to the relevant services of your borough can also happen.
Educational Health Care Plans – Occupational Therapy advice
If you have applied for an EHCP, are on the process of a tribunal and you think your child requires an Occupational Therapy assessment in order to identify strengths and needs, specific long term and short-term outcomes and Occupational Therapy provision in order to meet those outcomes can be met we are able to support you.
Sensory Processing Needs
Many children demonstrate sensory processing needs that are a barrier to their level of engagement in daily tasks related to community, home and school. For example, some children might not tolerate the sound of hand dryers and therefore are not going to a community toilet. Other children might demonstrate movement seeking needs which then creates a difficulty with accessing learning in school. Or some find the environment of public transport really challenging. Many children with autism are selective eaters. An Occupational Therapist can help you identify strategies that will help your child cope, regulate and also can devise a programme tailored on your child’s needs in order to increase their participation and functional performance.
Parent workshops
Educating families is the best way to support the day to day needs of Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs at home. We offer high quality, detailed and practical training to families aiming at increasing their confidence to support their children, reach their full potential and their ability to identify and problem solve daily issues that might occur.
Learning objectives and Topics
- Self-care needs – Supporting independence
- Behaviour that challenges – supporting regulation
- Sensory Processing Needs – What is it and how to support sensory processing difficulties
- The use of Play in all ages as an amazing learning tool
- Sensory based feeding difficulties
- Supporting functional fine motor at home.