The primary goal of pediatric occupational therapy is to enable children to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by enabling children to do things that will enhance their ability to participate or by modifying the environment to better support participation.
Play is considered the ‘job’ of a child – this is where they learn how to interact with the world, learn the rules of socializing, and develop their cognitive, language, and motor coordination skills.
At school, a child learns the basic skills they will need as an adult out in ‘the real world’. As teenagers, we learn our own sense of self, our passions and interests, and make decisions about our skills and future.
A child’s occupations will typically include self-care activities, play and social interactions, and learning. If a child is having difficulty in performing any of these tasks, an OT will look at what components of the task are providing an obstacle, and work together with the child and their family to help the child successfully participate in their daily occupations. This might include showing the child how to do the task more effectively, changing the requirement of the task to suit the skills of the child, or changing the environment to support independence.
An OT working with children helps kids having difficulties with sensory integration, gross motor, fine motor, visual perception, behavioral, and self-care. These may include:
Eating / Toileting / Sleeping / Play with peers / Sports or physical activity / Handwriting / Reading
The sensory system takes information from the surrounding environment through touch, smell, sound, vision, taste, movement and gravity. It processes or interprets these sensations together to make sense of the environment. The ability to process and integrate these sensations is important for efficient operation of the nervous system and the parts of the body that work with the nervous system.
Once our brain has made sense of the information, it sends signals to our body to make appropriate responses to perform the skills required. The ability to process sensory information is vital for children to learn and explore, and begin to understand where they fit in the world around them.
We rely on different sensations to provide us with alerting (chewing gum helps us to concentrate in exams), and calming (patting helps babies to fall asleep) input to our brain. This allows us to be at an optimal level of alertness to learn from our surroundings and experiences.
This inability of the brain to correctly process information brought in by the senses often results in behavioral difficulties:
Speech pathologists play an integral role in the assessment and treatment of children with an ASD, and report the assessment results and clinical information to the other members of the multidisciplinary team. Speech pathologists have expertise in the areas of social communication, speech and language development, learning and cognitive abilities, and play skills.
Speech pathologists are involved in the diagnosis and intervention for delayed language and other communication problems, including the lack of appropriate use of language in social settings, which are associated with ASD.
Just book a date with an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Specialist or a specialized Therapist and submit an interactive online admission form. Our team will carefully select the most qualified professional for your first video consultation.
AC&A is a licensed Telehealth provider in Florida. We can provide to Florida residents Occupational, Speech-Language, Physical Teletherapy and Consultation in the convenience of your own home. No Travel, no Waiting, no Stress.
Teletherapy Treatments Start from $37 per week
www.ldaamerica.org
www.tinsnips.org
www.apraxia-kids.org
www.herring.org
www.neuroscienceforkids.com
Contacts
By Appointment only:
1825 NW Corporate Blvd
Suite 110, Boca Raton, FL
33431-8554
200 E Robinson St.
Suite 1120, Orlando, FL
32801-1962
+1 (754) 320-4769
info@kshieldtutoring.com
For Mailing Only:
1825 NW Corporate Blvd
Suite 110, Boca Raton, FL
33431-8554
Associate Referral
Rewards Program
Become an Associate
Associate Area Login
Registration Center
BCBA Application Form
ESE Specialist Application Form
Therapist Application Form
KShield Partnership Program
RtI Private School Partnership
Associated Referral Rewards Program
New Patient Registration Form
New Patient Referral Form
School Registration Form
Clinic, Hospital, Financial Form
Work with us Form
AC&A Standards
KShield Tutors, ESE Specialists, and Pediatric Therapists are licensed professionals who strictly adhere to the best practices and standards set by AC&A and their respective professional associations.
Educational/Clinical
Educational/Clinical content on this site is under the responsibility of Amee Cohen & Associates. The Secure Video Library, including recorded tutoring sessions, online evaluations, documentation, and Video Consultation, is HIPAA compliant.
