What is Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy is the art and science of enabling people to engage in meaningful activities (occupations) throughout their day. For children these occupations may include participating to the best of their potential in classroom activities (such as, written output, following routines, getting along with others, staying focused, working independently ), self care (dressing, feeding, organizing themselves, managing stress), play (manipulating, building, creating) and recreational activities. Occupational Therapists consider both the individual (physical, cognitive, affective), their family and their environments (physical and social). 

Your child may benefit from Occupational Therapy if they are having difficulty with:

• fine motor tasks such as printing, cutting, doing up buttons or tying laces etc.
• gross motor activities such as catching/throwing a ball, maneuvering playground equipment, balance, etc.
• visual perception or visual motor tasks such as tracing or copying from the blackboard
• sensory processing
• regulating their own emotions and/or behavior 
• focusing on a task
• following daily routines, organizing themselves, transitioning between activities
• playing and getting along with their peers
• picky, messy eating