What I Do

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy is a health care profession that focuses on the whole person. The goal is to enable individuals of all ages to achieve their full potential in light of any physical or mental health difficulties.

Specialist Areas

As a Paediatric Occupational Therapist, I work with infants, children, adolescents and young adults in various settings to help them gain skills and to promote independence in all areas of daily living. This could include:

helping a toddler to use two hands to explore and manipulate a toy
working on developing a mature pencil grip so that handwriting is easier and less painful
providing sensory strategies and/or equipment to help a student focus in the classroom
improving coordination skills to enable participation in P.E. lessons or organised sports
developing independent living skills such as managing money, shopping, cooking tasks, etc.
providing adapted equipment such as specialist bathing aids, mobility devices, moving & handling equipment, ramps, specialist beds and advising on home adaptations

An important part of my role is to work closely with parents, carers, educators and other professionals involved with the child so that we work collectively towards achieving our goals and towards promoting independence.

Who I Work With

Conditions / Difficulties I Treat

A person does not necessarily need to have a diagnosis to benefit from Occupational Therapy. If your child is experiencing difficulty in their day to day activities within the school and home settings, then it is worth seeking advice from an OT about whether intervention would be beneficial. The ultimate goal is to help the child achieve functional independence.

Cerebral Palsy

Autism Spectrum Conditions

Sensory Processing Difficulties

Dyspraxia

Downs Syndrome, CHARGE Syndrome & Tuberous Sclerosis

Assessments

An assessment can take place at home or at school, depending on what works best for the child. It usually lasts a few hours and involves obtaining a detailed history of the child, questionnaires, direct observations and standardised evaluations.

The results and recommendations are then put together in a detailed report or a programme may be written up to target specific areas such as motor skills or a sensory diet.