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OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY FAQs
CLICK HERE FOR SPEECH AND LANGUAGE FAQs
- What is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist?
- My child did not qualify for occupational therapy services in the school district, does that mean they do not need occupational therapy?
- My child receives occupational therapy services in the school system, is it beneficial to also receive services outside of the school system?
- What is sensory integration therapy?
- What are fine motor skills?
- What is the difference between sensory integration and sensory processing?
- Does your center work with sensory integration/processing problems?
- What are some signs that my child may need occupational therapy services?
- Do you work with Children with Autism?
- What ages do you work with?
- What is the difference between occupational therapists and physical therapists?
- What are the benefits of Co-treatment?
- Do you involve the parents in the treatment process?
- My toddler does not like when his hands are messy. Is this a problem?
- How do I make a referral?
Q.
What is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist?
A.
Occupational therapists work with people of all ages to help them participate in daily life activities or “occupations.” A pediatric occupational therapist focuses on children and their ability to participate in their unique occupations. An occupational therapist works with the person as a whole individual and understands how their social-emotional, physical, cognitive, communication, and adaptive behavior difficulties make it difficult for them to participate fully in their everyday life activities. Some skill areas that pediatric occupational therapists work with include play, fine motor, handwriting, self-help, sensory processing, and visual-motor skills.
Top Q.
My child did not qualify for occupational therapy services in the school district, does that mean they do not need occupational therapy?
A. Not necessarily. Occupational therapy that is practiced in the school setting is different compared to occupational therapy services in other settings. Many times a student may not qualify for occupational therapy services in the school district. For a student to qualify they often need to show a significant skill deficit that impacts their ability to learn in the school setting. Many school districts do not offer occupational therapy services to students who do not have an IEP and are not serviced in Speech Therapy services. These students may show difficulties in the school setting but are not able to receive services because their difficulties lie within the occupational therapy area of practice. These students may need occupational therapy services and will not be able to receive them through the school district.
In the private area of practice, the guidelines for practice are based on the person’s ability to perform their occupations. This area of practice is much broader and can impact the child as a whole instead of only focusing on their ability to perform in the school setting and complete school related tasks. A child will be able to receive occupational therapy services that relate to other skill areas that he or she is having difficulty with that a school occupational therapist may not be able to address.
Top Q.
My child receives occupational therapy services in the school system, is it beneficial to also receive services outside of the school system?
A.
Yes. A student that receives occupational therapy services in the school will benefit greatly from the collaboration between the occupational therapist and his or her entire IEP team that will help them succeed in the school setting. Receiving services outside the school system in conjunction to what they already receive will help the student in a variety of ways. It will provide them with an intense and consistent amount of occupational therapy services every week. They will improve at a faster rate because of the extra practice/exposure in their particular area of difficulty. They will improve in more than one skill area, not just the exact skills they will need to do well in school, but the skills they will need to do well in life. The collaboration between their private OT, school OT and IEP team, parent and other healthcare professionals will keep the student’s support network on the same page and working towards the same big picture goals.
Top Q.
What is sensory integration therapy?
A. Sensory integration therapy is used for children who have difficulty with processing sensory information. The sensory information that the body must organize and perceive correctly includes vision, auditory, touch, olfaction (smell), taste, vestibular (movement) and proprioceptive (positional). Often times, children who have autism, vestibular processing disorders, dyspraxia (difficulty with fluid and coordinated body movements), sensory discrimination and perception problems, sensory defensiveness, gravitational insecurity, sensory registration problems, and others benefit from sensory integration therapy.
Sensory Integration Therapy assists the child in participating in their daily life activities by introducing them to sensory activities in a systematic way to help them cope and deal with the information that they receive. The basis for this therapy has four main principles: The “Just Right” challenge, adaptive response, active engagement, and child directed.
The Just Right Challenge is providing the child with an amount of information that challenges them to grow but does not overwhelm them. An adaptive response is a strategy to help the child deal with a sensory experience by using a new and useful response. When a child is actively engaged and when therapy is child directed in an activity therapy is done “with” them and not “to” them. This encourages them to have a sense of control and will want to participate because it is fun. Therapy is also Child directed.
Top Q.
What are fine motor skills?
A.
Fine motor skills are related to the child’s ability to perform tasks with their hands. These skills include writing, self-help skills such as manipulating fasteners on clothing, opening containers, using writing and other school-related tools such as scissors, using utensils to eat, tying shoes, etc. Occupational therapists are able to assess a child to determine what skill area is being effected and take action to improve the child’s ability to perform. An occupational therapist works from the bottom, up. Meaning they look at the environment, sensory processing, muscle functioning, positioning, coordination, and other areas when determining the cause of decreased skill. Once this is identified, the therapist works on these underlying areas of need so that they improve the foundational skills, not just a “splinter” skill or a skill that is beneficial at this time and may not be beneficial in the future.
DEVELOPMENTAL CHART
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Q.
What is the difference between sensory integration and sensory processing? A.
Sensory integration and sensory processing are two terms that are often used interchangeably. In fact recently, Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID) is now called Sensory Processing Disorder. One way of looking at the difference between the words would be to say that sensory integration refers to the body’s organization of sensory information. For example, when something is felt with the hands the electrical impulse travels to the brain. Sensory processing is related to how the brain processes the information. They are both important components in perceiving sensory information and difficult to separate in a functional way.
Q.
Does your center work with sensory integration/processing problems?
A.
Yes. We work with sensory related problems. We have evaluation tools, therapy tools and materials, and experience with this particular population to impact the child with sensory difficulties in a fun and positive way. A new addition to our facility includes a sensory room that impacts all of the senses during therapy sessions.
Top Q.
What are some signs that my child may need occupational therapy services?
A.
Signs that your child may need occupational therapy services would include difficulties performing certain tasks by certain ages. Here are two simple charts to help determine if your child’s skills are developmentally appropriate -
FINE MOTOR SKILLS
Age |
Fine Motor Skill |
6 Months |
- Holds food with their hand and brings it to mouth
- Transfers objects from hand to hand
- Plays with toys in the middle of their body
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7-9 Months
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- Releases objects
- Points and is developing finger pinching skills
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10-12 Months
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- Grasps small objects in fingertips (3 finger grasp)
- Bangs objects together to make noise, places toys in containers
- Uses the index finger to explore toys
- Puts on their socks
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12-18 Months
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- Holds onto crayons and makes marks; scribbles
- Attempts puzzles
- Stacks blocks and begins to construct simple puzzles
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18-24 Months
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- Completes 4-5 piece puzzle
- Builds towers of 4 blocks
- Holds crayons in fingertips and draws straight or circular strokes
- Strings beads
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24-36 Months
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- Snips with scissors
- Imitates horizontal, vertical, and circular marks on paper
- Builds towers and lines up objects
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3-4 Years
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- Uses three fingers to grasp pencil or crayon
- Colors within lines
- Copies simple shapes; begins to copy letters
- Uses scissors to cut simple shapes
- Draws a face
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4-5 Years
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- Draws with dexterity, using a dynamic tripod grasp
- Completes puzzles of up to 10 pieces
- Uses scissors to cut out squares and other simple shapes
- Color within the lines
- Copies own name and some letters
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5-6 Years
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- Prints name, copies letters, copies a triangle, begins upper and lowercase letters
- Constructs a complex building
- Completes puzzles of up to 20 pieces
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GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
Age |
Gross Motor Skill |
6 Months |
- Rolls from place to place
- Begins to sit independently, but mostly uses their hands to prop them up
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7-9 Months
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- Changes positions between sitting and standing with support
- Crawls on hands and knees
- Pulls to stand and cruises along furniture
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10-12 Months
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- Able to change positions into sitting upright
- Crawls upstairs
- Walks with hands held
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12-18 Months
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- Plays while standing
- Walks well, squats and picks up toys from the floor
- Flings a balls
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18-24 Months
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- Kicks ball forward
- Throws ball at a large target
- Jumps with both feet
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24-36 Months
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- Rides tricycle
- Catches a large ball against chest
- Begins to hop on one foot
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3-4 Years
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- Begins to skip and hop
- Skilled in jumping, climbing and running
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4-5 Years
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- Throws a ball
- Hops for long sequences
- Climbs on playground equipment
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5-6 Years
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- Hops well for long distances
- Skips with good balance
- Kicks with accuracy
|
Top
Q.
Do you work with Children with Autism?
A.
Yes. We work with the child, their family and their other support networks in collaboration to reach the highest level of success. We are experienced in working with children who have autism. We address the whole child when working with children who have autism as well as focus on particular skills that are the most important to them and their family.
Top
Q.
What ages do you work with?
A.
We work with children of all ages starting from infants from 6 months through toddler, adolescents, and teenagers.
Top
Q.
What is the difference between occupational therapists and physical therapists? A. Occupational therapists and physical therapists overlap in many areas of practice. However they have two very separate professions. An occupational therapist works with functional skills that people use in everyday life activities or “occupations.” They work with the whole individual and take into account all aspects of the person and their environment and its impact on performance. A physical therapist works with less emphasis on functional skills and activities. In the past, it was said that occupational therapists work with a person’s arms and physical therapists work with a person’s legs. This is not entirely true but a simple way of separating the professions. Occupational therapists often work with a person’s arms because they use their arms to participate in everyday activities. A physical therapist usually focuses on mobility, and a person uses their legs to move around. Occupational therapists may focus mostly on fine motor skills and a physical therapist may focus mostly on gross motor skills, but often they overlap in this area because the motor skills themselves cannot be easily separated.
Concerning this particular facility, we presently do not have physical therapy services. We do have occupational therapy services and treat a wide variety of children. Please contact our office if you are unsure whether physical or occupational therapy services are needed for your child.
Q.
What are the benefits of Co-treatment?
A. Co-treatment between an occupational therapist and a speech language pathologist is very beneficial. Many times children benefit from the ability to have both professions at the same time when working towards a particular goal. During co-treatment, the occupational therapist and speech language pathologist will work together to address their goals in a collaborative approach. Often speech and occupational therapy skills are needed during the same session to be successful.
Sometimes a child will attend an occupational therapy session prior to a speech therapy session. This helps the child become organized through sensory activities before attending to a speech therapy session to become more successful.
Top
Q.
Do you involve the parents in the treatment process? A.
Yes. The parents are a very important part of therapy here at Children’s Speech Therapy Center. Parents are often invited back into the treatment rooms to observe therapy as long as the situation is appropriate. They also have the option of observing therapy in the waiting area by watching a baby monitor. Every session is designed to allow time for the parent and therapist to discuss progress and what was done during the therapy session. Parents are also given activities to work on at home to increase carryover in all settings and help the child be more successful in reaching their goals.
Q.
What does an occupational therapy evaluation consist of?
A. Coming Soon!
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Q.
My toddler does not like when his hands are messy. Is this a problem? A.
It is common for a young child to respond negatively to various textures in their environment. It becomes a concern when this begins to interfere with activities that must be performed on a day-to-day basis or if the reaction to these events occurs very often during the day or last for a long time. Sensory events that a child with tactile (touch) sensory defensiveness would react to include hair washing/combing, touching food or messy materials with their hands/feet, clothing on their body, clipping nails, wearing a hat, wearing shoes/sandals, etc. If these events make a child cry or display other negative reactions often or for a long period of time, this may indicate that your child has difficulty with his or her sensory system.
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Q. How do I make a referral?
A. To make a referral for an Occupational Therapy Evaluation, please call the Children's Speech Therapy Center at 703-858-7388. |
