What is Occupational Therapy?

“You’re like physical therapy right?” “That’s great, you give people jobs!” “You just play with kids all day.” These are all common statements made by people outside the realm of occupational therapy. So here I am bridging the gap between being a physical therapist and someone that helps people get jobs.

Occupational therapy (OT) is a means of giving individuals access to their functional and meaningful daily occupations, roles, routines, and tasks. OT’s can work in schools, outpatient clinics, homes, hospitals, mental health centers, military services, jails, and much more. Since I am a pediatric occupational therapist, I am going to focus on OT as it relates to kiddos. A child’s main occupations are play, activities of daily living, social participation, and education. OT works to help kiddos that have limitations that are impeding participation in the above listed occupations through establishing, restoring, modifying, or preventing necessary skills. OT will work on fine motor, gross motor, visual motor, visual perception, social interaction, play, attention, regulation, sensory, and self-care skills. Sessions can be done in both a group and individual setting, where both has its pros and cons. For some kids, they enjoy being in a group because it brings them out of their shell, and they can feed off of each other. Additionally, the therapist is able to plan group activities to create social interaction. However, attention can be affected, which can decrease skill production and increase behavior management. Individual sessions are great for kids that benefit from direct instruction, may have a hard time focusing with distractions present, or feel uncomfortable in large groups.

Why does OT look like play? Well, how do you motivate kids? Kids are generally motivated by preferred activities, because it increases confidence and self-worth. Through using preferred activities, and creating a playful atmosphere, the child has a better chance at participation in OT treatment. I have found my greatest success when I get down to the child’s level (both literally and figuratively) and play, while keeping the child’s goals in mind.

Working with kids has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had, because I have been able to witness change. From being able to see a kiddo who was unable to attend in class be able to participate, to teaching a child how to write his/her name successfully, is truly rewarding. I am not trying to sell my business or the career, but I think that we as adults are in a perfect spot to create the best life possible for kids by giving them all the skills they need to be successful.

11/18/19.