So, what is an Occupational Therapist?

Occupational Therapists (OT’s) work with people across the life-span, from newborn babies right through to elderly adults.  Most people associate OT's with rehabilitation - supporting people recovering from a car crash or a spinal cord injury. But OT’s work in much more areas than just rehabilitation.

In Occupational Therapy, the word 'Occupation' means anything and everything that people do with their time; that occupies them and gives their life meaning and purpose. This covers everything from activities of daily living like bathing and eating, to resting and sleeping; accessing education; working; playing and engaging in leisure and social activities. 

For children, their primary occupation is to be a child; to play, to make friends, to learn and explore and to gain independence in life skills like learning how to write, read, tie shoelaces, feed themselves and develop emotional maturity through managing their emotions in an increasingly independent way as they grow older. 

For children referred to OT's, some may have a pre-existing diagnosis like autism or ADHD, or a developmental delay, but for many children, their parents or doctors or teachers have identified a need for some further input to support their independence or development.

These identified areas of need may be in the areas of fine motor, gross motor, speech and language, play and social skills, emotional regulation, questions around sensory regulation and processing and sometimes toileting and sleeping.

To begin, OT’s will often conduct an assessment using standardized assessment tools that give an indication of the child’s development compared to children of the same age.   We also get lots of information from parents and teachers about the child, because ultimately parents are the expert on their own child. We put all of these pieces together to develop a really rich understanding of who the child is, their strengths and preferences, and possible areas for support and further development.

Depending on the needs identified, OT's may work with a child for a few sessions, or a term, or sometimes a matter of years.  OT sessions for children are primarily about building skills, resilience and independence, and often we do this through play and activities which engage kids and gradually increase complexity to help them to build new skills over time. 

Most kids really enjoy their OT sessions, and a huge bonus of my work is that I get to be incredibly creative in the work I do with children - I honestly think OT's have one of the best jobs in the world and I love getting to meet and work with children and families, supporting them in their day to day lives.