Occupational therapy helps children with sensory, physical, or cognitive conditions. Our Occupational Therapists (OTs) or Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTAs) are experts in treating children who have difficulties with motor skills, sensory processing skills, and social skills. These include problems with:
- Fine motor skills
How well children move and use the small muscles in their hands and wrists for completing tasks like writing, coloring, and cutting.
- Gross motor skills
How well children move and use their large muscles in the torso, arms, and legs to complete whole-body movements, such as climbing, jumping, and throwing a ball.
- Daily living activities
How well children can complete tasks like eating, feeding themselves, bathing, and showering; this also includes the mobility to get up and down and move around while performing activities.
- Sensory processing skills
How well children engage in physical activities that are designed to regulate their sensory input to make them feel more comfortable, secure, and able to focus. Being too sensitive to stimulation or not sensitive enough can make children uncomfortable, anxious, distracted, or overwhelmed, causing meltdowns.
- Social skills
How well children can engage in school and social situations like play skills, turn-taking, shared engagement, and play sequencing.
Typically, children who receive occupational therapy services include but are not limited to the following diagnoses:
- Sensory processing disorders
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Birth injuries or birth defects
- Traumatic injuries to the brain or spinal cord
- Learning problems
- Mental health or behavioral problems
- Developmental delays
- Post-surgical conditions
- Spina bifida
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cerebral palsy
- Chronic illnesses