What is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist?
“Occupational therapy? But my child doesn’t have a job!” Just as occupational therapy helps adults perform better at their jobs, a pediatric occupational therapist helps children succeed in important areas of their lives. This includes helping children build the skills required for essential daily activities such as brushing their teeth, writing their name, or playing with friends.
Occupational therapists working with children are trying to determine where delays or limitations are coming from, especially in the areas of fine motor skills, cognitive skills, social development, and establishing self-care routines.
Together, these skills lead to children being able to grow into healthy, well-functioning adults. Pediatric occupational therapists typically obtain masters degrees to work with children of all ages – from infants to teenagers.
Why Might My Child Need to See an Pediatric Occupational Therapist?
Children see occupational therapists for a variety of reasons including:
Delays in fine motor skills
Help developing visual motor skills – tracking an object, hand-eye coordination
Cognitive delays including problem-solving skills, memory, and attention
Children with sensory integration issues
Delays in play and social interaction skills
Help with learning basic self-care tasks, such as getting dressed
How A Pediatric Occupational Therapist Can Help Children
Children don’t like to just sit in therapy, so occupational therapists strive to make therapy sessions feel like play. By participating in motivating activities such as board games, crafts, and building obstacle courses, children are developing skills while having fun! Occupational therapists help children develop these necessary physical, cognitive, and sensory skills so they can perform daily tasks more independently. Therapy can also help kids learn how to respond to a sensory rich world when playing with friends or simply enjoying life.
Remember, treatment options will vary for each child as will duration of therapy. For specific questions about your child, be sure to consult their healthcare provider.
