Occupational Therapy

I am often asked what Occupational Therapy is, so I thought I'd go into detail in today's blog post.

Occupational Therapy, also known as OT, (according to Wikipedia) incorporates meaningful and purposeful occupation to enable people with limitations or impairments to participate in everyday life.

According to About.com, Occupational Therapy actually deals with strengthening fine motor skills, like writing, cutting, shoe-tying and using utensils. For adults recovering from an accident or stroke, that may include work-related skills; for children, whose "occupation" is school and play, it will focus more sharply on developmental milestones and skills required for playground and academic activities. Occupational therapists working with children typically use techniques and routines that may seem like play, but are designed to target areas of delay and difficulty. Some occupational therapists are also trained in therapy with a sensory integration approach (SI), which uses play-like activities to help children better process and tolerate the information they get through their senses.

John would spend his hour of OT swinging on different types of swings, climbing, working through obstacle courses, hanging on a trapeze bar, jumping in ball pit, jumping on trampoline, walking on different textures, riding a tricycle, throwing balls, working on fine motor skills, and sometimes, working on eating issues.