Occupational Therapy and Paediatrics Part 1

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapists work with clients of all ages, with any challenge preventing them from performing their occupations. Occupational Therapists look at aspects of the person, environment, and occupation to discover the factors contributing to the barriers to the clients’ participation. They have specialized training and use a strengths-based approach to work with each client and tailor the therapy to their individual needs.

Paediatric Occupational Therapists help children to perform and engage in their occupations of self-care, leisure, and productivity. These include activities individuals want to do, are expected to do, or need to do to (Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, 2016):

Take care of themselves
Participate in a group setting
Have fun

Occupational Therapists work with children in various settings including home, early learning environments, schools, and medical facilities. The main occupation of children is play; as a result, Occupational Therapists incorporate play interests in their work with children.

Initial visit with an Occupational Therapist: The Occupational Therapist will ask questions to gain a better understanding of the child, their environment (home, family, playroom or school) and the task that they are having difficulty with. To support the collection of informal information, the Occupational Therapist may conduct specific, evidence-based assessments to understand the child’s challenges in more detail.

After the initial visit: Occupational Therapists use a number of different interventions. Each intervention is collaborative and focuses on improving occupational performance and engagement in tasks that you and the child determine are important.

The following are some examples of Occupational Therapy Interventions:

If a child is having difficulty with the washroom routine, an Occupational Therapist may introduce a visual schedule that breaks down the steps of using the washroom for the child to follow. If a child’s washroom difficulties are sensory-based the Occupational Therapist may suggest the use of potty seats or a change of location of the potty.
If a child is having sensory challenges, the Occupational Therapist recommendations may include adjusting the task or environment for an individual’s needs, introducing movement breaks, using weighted products, headphones, organizing spaces or providing quiet times.
If the environment is limiting the child’s occupational performance, the Occupational Therapist may suggest modifying spaces for accessibility by providing ramps, adaptive bathroom equipment such as toilet seat insert, or alternative lighting to reduce brightness.

References

Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. (2016). What is Occupational Therapy?. Retrieved from https://caot.ca/site/aboutot/whatisot_test

Dunn., W. (2017). Strengths-based approach: what if even the ‘bad’ things are good things?. British Journal of Occupational Therapy. 80(7): 395-396.

Strengths-based approach

A strengths-based approach puts an emphasis on a person's interests and talents instead of focusing on their challenges. When an Occupational Therapist is deciding on a plan for a client, they will work together with the client to focus on what they are interested in and how they can incorporate their strengths and interests into therapy to help improve occupational performance (Dunn, 2017). A strengths-based approach also focuses on using positive language when talking to the client. Using positive language helps a person to feel confident and motivated.

For example: A child may be referred to Occupational Therapy to help learn skills of reading. During the initial assessment, the Occupational Therapist may discover that the child has a love for dinosaurs. When planning the intervention, the Occupational Therapist will use books about dinosaurs to help the child learn how to read. Additionally, rather than saying the child is distracted while reading, the Occupational Therapist may state that the child is curious about their environment. Using this approach, the child will be more motivated and engaged in the task.

Evidence-based assessments

Evidence-based assessments have been studied by researchers and are shown to be able to accurately establish a baseline level of performance. They can also measure change in performance as a person works on strategies to strengthen their abilities. Occupational Therapists can use these assessments to measure the levels of improvement in a client. If no improvement is detected, the Occupational Therapist may change their strategy and try something new with the client.

Occupational Therapy and Paediatrics Part 1

What is Occupational Therapy?

Links

References

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