Make The Grade OT

Occupational therapists are skilled at assessing a number of skills which include:  fine motor ability,sensory processing, coordination, motor planning, perception, functional visual skills, self-care, social skills, and other age appropriate skills. Developmental assessments are used to determine a child’s skills in these areas in relation to their peers. This information is then used to devise individual treatment programs.

 

Fine Motor
Pencil grasp Handwriting adaptations Pencil/crayon control in writing and drawing Space & letter formation/orientation to lines Hand/finger strength/stability Wrist &/or forearm control Postural/shoulder stability Hand/finger speed & dexterity Finger isolated movements Tweezers, scissors, tool usage Determination of hand dominance	What to look out for in your child: No interest in or avoidance of fine motor skills Awkward or poor pencil grasp When writing or coloring, lines are wavy Poor scissors skills such difficulties staying on the line or jagged work. Clumsy grasp & release skills, frequently dropping items Difficulty holding small objects Difficulties manipulating tools, pencils or scissors Agonizing over completing mazes, dot-to-dots, etc. Difficulty copying text from white board or blackboard Difficulties with shoe tying, buttoning Frequent switching of the hand used
Sensory Processing
Sensory diets are established at home and/or school based on the child's individual needs Treatment is focused on the integration of the sensory systems including following areas: movement (vestibular), pull of gravity (vestibular), touch (tactile), mouth (oral motor), sight and sound. Children are taught specific strategies for use in maintaining or regaining self-control	What to look out for in your child: Over or under sensitivity to touch, movement, sights or sounds Easily distracted from work or activities Activity level is unusually high (always moving) or unusually low (lethargic, disinterested) Impulsiveness, poor judgment Clumsiness Delays in language or motor skills Emotionally reactive Difficulties relating to peers or family Difficulties with changes, wants items/routines to stay the same Inability or difficulty in calming self Academic Delays
Motor Planning/Coordination
Ball skills - throwing & catching, hitting ball Balance: Balancing on one leg, hopping, walking on a balance beam Coordination of body sides: difficulty skipping or dancing Postural reactions to maintain balance on a moving surface Laterality/Directionality	What to look out for in your child: Flinching when catching a ball or avoidance of playing catch Clumsiness Fearful of gross motor activities Fearful of having their feet leave the ground Difficulty coordinating body sides, moves awkwardly Poor endurance
Visual Processing/Perception
Visual motor - the ability of the hand and eyes to smoothly work together to guide hand movements Visual figure ground - being able to find "hidden" figures among a busy background Visual memory - measuring the child's ability to remember previously shown shapes Visual discrimination - finding similarities and differences among similar figures Visual sequential memory - remembering a series of forms and choosing the series from among similar series Visual constancy - the ability of the child to recognize a symbol as being the same in spite of being resized or rotated Eye movements/Visual pursuits - the ability of the child to smoothly track with his eyes the movement of objects or symbols Copying from far and near Visual spatial relationships - being able to identify reversals of objects or shapes Body awareness - familiarity with body parts and relation of self to environment	What to look out for in your child: Difficulty in recognizing letters and with letter production Reversals of letters or numbers, (such as b for d and p for q) Inattention or distractibility to writing or reading tasks Difficulty copying from a blackboard or white board Poor at following instructions Directionality confusion moving around environments Difficulties understanding the layout of math problems and math worksheets which can interfere with learning of math concepts When compared his or her peers, pictures drawn are immature and unrefined Immature drawings of people compared to peers Poor eye contact Loses his place frequently or skips words while reading
Self-Care
Dressing skills - (put on and take of) clothing, shoes & socks Strategies and ideas for sequences/cues to use when dressing Hygiene: basic grooming (hair and tooth brushing) Eating; utensil grasp, bilateral coordination of knife and fork	What to look out for in your child: Dressing: clothes put on backwards, shoes put on the wrong feet Food is pushed off the edge of the plate Food falls off of eating utensils Messy eaters
Social Skills
Cooperative play/sharing skills Development of leisure activities Development of self-esteem Attention Listening skills Following directions	What to look out for in your child: Poor body language Withdrawal from social situations Lack of group interaction (or avoidance of) Lack of confidence in oneself Poor eye contact