What Is Occupational Therapy?

 

Occupational therapy (OT) is a branch of health care that helps people of all ages who have physical, sensory, or cognitive problems. OT can help them regain independence in all areas of their lives.

Occupational therapists help with barriers that affect a person's emotional, social, and physical needs. To do this, they use everyday activities, exercises, and other therapies.

OT helps kids play, improves their school performance, and aids their daily activities. It also boosts their self-esteem and sense of accomplishment. With OT, kids can:

• Develop fine motor skills so they can grasp and release toys and develop good handwriting or computer skills.

• Improve eye–hand coordination so they can play and do needed school skills such as bat a ball and copy from a blackboard.

• Master basic life skills such as bathing, getting dressed, brushing teeth, and self-feeding.

• Learn positive behaviors and social skills by practicing how they manage frustration and anger.

• Get special equipment to help build their independence. These include wheelchairs, splints, bathing equipment, dressing devices, and communication aids.

 

What makes Occupational Therapy at Little Sparks Special?

Occupational therapy in Little Sparks is special because what makes the difference is the facility your child has access to during their therapy and what tools the therapist has at their disposal to perform their best for your child.

• Facility - A state of the art pediatric sensory gym, 51 sqm of it.  Read how a sensory gym benefits therapies here.

• Toys and Tools - More than 70% of our educational toys and tools are imported direct from the USA

• International Standard Assessment Tools - We provide our therapists training and access to international standard assessment tools to provide a more evidence-based initial evaluation for your child (and not all therapy centers invest in such standard assessment tools).  This information will also be highly valuable to your Development Pediatrician.

• Collaboration - if your child undertakes more than one type of therapy from our center, all therapists involved in your child collaborate behind the scenes to make sure everyone's program is aligned to the same set of overall treatment goals for your child.

• Continuous Professional Growth - Our therapists always are always kept up to date about advances in their profession in order to apply their knowledge to your child's therapy.

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Who Might Need Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy can help kids teens who have:

• birth injuries or birth defects

• sensory processing disorders

• traumatic injuries to the brain or spinal cord

• learning problems

• autism

• juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

• mental health or behavioral problems

• broken bones or other orthopedic injuries

• developmental delays

• post-surgical conditions

• burns

• spina bifida

• traumatic amputations

• cancer

• severe hand injuries

• multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and other chronic illnesses

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How Do Occupational Therapy and ABA Behavior Therapy Differ?

Occupational and ABA Therapy both help improve kids' quality of life, but there are differences.  The difference between them are hard to separate because the two disciplines do intermingle in between.  If a parent decides to take both OT and ABA therapies with Little Sparks Therapy Center, here is an example of how the two will work together:

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Occupational therapy helps with:

• fine motor skills (small-muscle movements made with the hands, fingers, and toes, such as grasping)

• visual-perceptual skills

• cognitive (thinking) skills

• sensory-processing problems

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ABA behavior therapy helps with:

• Communication and language

• Social skills

• Self-care (such as showering and toileting)

• Play and leisure

• Motor skills

• Learning and academic skills

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To read more about ABA Behavior Therapy, click here.

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What about Physical Therapy vs Occupational Therapy?

Physical therapy (PT) helps with:

• pain

• strength

• joint range of motion

• endurance

• gross motor skills (large-muscle movements made with the arms, legs, feet, or entire body)

 

Occupational therapy helps with:

• fine motor skills (small-muscle movements made with the hands, fingers, and toes, such as grasping)

• visual-perceptual skills

• cognitive (thinking) skills

• sensory-processing problems

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Sourced and adapted from : www.kidshealth.org and www.autismspeaks.org/applied-behavior-analysis-aba-autism-treatment