Occupational therapy (OT)

Occupational therapists (OTs) may work with students with physical limitations as well as children with developmental delays and learning challenges. Occupational therapy contributes to a learner’s skill set and plays an important role in a child’s education.

Occupational therapy is often suggested for learners in the foundation phase. At Catch Up Kids we work in collaboration with other therapists on the child’s team to tackle their developmental delays and/or sensory processing challenges. If the child has an occupational therapist that has been enrolled by the parents, we work together to bridge the gaps. When we are scheduled with the child, we use the child’s homework as a platform to deliver our Catch Up Kids developmental program but will also practise activities or sensory suggestions made by the child’s Occupational therapist during the scheduled secessions.

Occupational Therapy (OT) focuses on eliminating gaps in sensory motor development and visual perception, in order to lay a sound foundation for schoolwork.

Occupational therapy can also help children with learning challenges or ADHD overcome barriers to learning. Working with your child’s OT can improve your child’s school performance.

An Occupational therapist will assess a child’s fine motor skills and suggest exercises to address fine motor deficits. Handwriting without tears is a program we have utilised before at Catch Up Kids which was recommended by an OT during occupational therapy received by one of our Catch Up kids. This award-winning program is research proven and helps students to develop the skills needed for both print and cursive writing. The program ensures the student’s success and doesn’t let them get the formation of the letters wrong, which in turn encourages the development of new motor maps.

OT’s can address visual perceptual skills by using a number of techniques including word searches, crossword puzzles, mazes etc. If the OT addresses visual perception skills during occupational therapy our team at Catch Up Kids can follow through and do any homework for visual perception skills the OT may recommend to the parent. The more times the child practises the skills they missing the more likely they are to catch up delayed skills.

OT’s will work on a child’s sensory issues should these issues be a challenge and contribute to interrupting the child’s learning in a classroom. We collaborate with the child’s OT to help the child learn not only to identify and request when they require sensory input but also to help the child learn how to independently provide themselves with opportunities for sensory input. Proprioceptive and vestibular input will also be recommended by the OT during occupational therapy should the learner in question require these interventions.

Teachers and OT’s will work together with the Catch Up Kids Case Manager to accommodate learners in the classroom who learn differently. Inclusive education acknowledges the diversity of learners in a classroom. If everyone on the child’s team works together the child can be sufficiently supported and become a successful member of the classroom. Occupational therapy is regularly provided at school and is available at many schools to help support children in a classroom. Occupational therapists can support teachers by working collaboratively with them within the classroom and together with the Catch Up Kids team enhance inclusive education. Occupational therapy therefore goes a long way in addressing the skills deficits of learners falling behind in a classroom.

Improving a learner’s attention to tasks while providing the opportunity for movement is a topic for discussion with the OT who provides the child occupational therapy. The OT may recommend various seating options such as stools, exercise balls, soft cushions or stand-up desks. These are all possible seating options a learner could choose which may assist them in the classroom or be a temporary aid the OT suggested during occupational therapy. The Catch Up Kids team will also work on helping the child learn to sustain attention for longer periods of time. Everything together provides the child with the support needed to become a successful learner in the classroom and to overcome learning challenges.

To provide comprehensive intervention, OTs may also work with learners with speech or language problems, hearing or visual impairments, and emotional difficulties. When learners attend occupational therapy they are supported by the OT to enhance their skills and cope with classroom demands. OTs are well-equipped with material and expertise to provide measurable skill acquisition during their occupational therapy sessions.