Occupational Therapy (OT) is an allied health profession, focused on improving people's ability to participate in their Occupations.

Occupations are the everyday activities that provide meaning to our lives, ranging from self-care tasks such as dressing and eating, to attending work or school and the ability to engage in leisure and social activities.

During Occupational Therapy, the client is encouraged to take part in the therapy process by participating in structured and unstructured activities.

Occupational Therapists are trained in activity-analysis and can adapt and develop activities, to be specific for each client's individual needs.

Occupational Therapists aim to minimise the environmental barriers that their clients experience, to increase their client's participation in meaningful tasks.

Our Occupational Therapy practice focuses on Paediatric intervention, working with babies and children up to the age of 13 years.

As many of a child's daily occupations take place at home and at school, we will often assess areas of concern identified by a child's parents or teachers:

Difficulty with the activities of daily life

• Eating, Dressing, Grooming, Bathing, Sleeping, Toileting

Developmental delay

• Delays in achieving motor milestones such as rolling, sitting, crawling and walking.
• Delays in social interaction and communication when compared to their peers.
• Delays in play skills when compared to their peers.

Sensory Integration difficulties

• Negative responses to non-threatening sounds, movement, touch, lights or colours.
• Difficulty managing and controlling emotions or staying calm.
• Trouble tolerating changes in routine or plans.
• Difficulty perceiving body language, personal space or facial expressions.
• Accident prone – clumsy or uncoordinated. Using inefficient ways of doing things.
• Difficulty playing with age-appropriately toys.
• Difficulty using objects such as scissors, crayons, buttons, zips and containers. (tool manipulation)
• Difficulty learning age-appropriate concepts such as colours, numbers and shapes.
• Inability to sit still, increased energy levels and always on the go.
• Day-dreaming, lethargic or inattentive

School related concerns

• Poor physical development and sitting posture (gross motor skills)
• Challenges in areas of literacy and numeracy (visual perceptual skills)
• Delays in pencil grip, colouring and cutting (fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination)
• Difficulty with copying written work, letter formation, sizing and spacing (visual motor integration)
• Delayed personal management or independence (time-management, emotional control, social interaction)
• Poor attention and concentration

Children are best engaged when tasks are fun, novel and playful and our treatment sessions are therefore aimed at involving the child in play-based activities.

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