Occupational therapy is a therapeutic evidence-based intervention which involves increasing children, adolescents and adults' skills in accessing activities in their everyday lives. Occupation Therapy is implemented by a highly trained professional – Occupational Therapist (OT).
Treatment supports individuals with a physical, sensory, or cognitive disability be as independent as possible across all activities in their lives. Occupational therapist can help children with various needs improve their cognitive, physical, sensory, and motor skills and enhance their self-confidence and motivation.
Our occupational therapist helps our children in developing the following skills sets through personalised and group interventions
Sensory Integration Therapy
We combine our senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, balance and the sense of our body in space) in order to make sense of our environment. However, some autistic children and young people may have difficulty filtering sensory information, and it can become overwhelming, uncomfortable and/or painful.
On the flip side, some autistic people actively seek sensory sensations to calm themselves, relieve anxiety and often just for pleasure and relaxation. Experiencing sensory stimuli differently from the neurotypical population is known as sensory processing differences.
When we lack the "filters" to screen out irrelevant information, this can cause sensory overload and lead to a meltdown. Each sensory input builds and builds without being filtered out appropriately. As one student said, "I cannot keep reading because my eyes are filled up at the moment".
Occupational therapists are key in providing advice and interventions to target each sense, helps the child’s nervous system become more organized and regulated. This can reduce the child's anxiety and exhaustion, and improve their attention and performance.
Occupational therapists are key in providing advice and interventions to target each sense, helps the child’s nervous system become more organized and regulated. This can reduce the child's anxiety and exhaustion, and improve their attention and performance.
Sensory Diets
A sensory diet/lifestyle is a specifically designed daily activity plan. It aims to include sensory activities throughout the child's waking day in order to improve focus, attention and ensure the child is feeling "just right" (regulated) throughout the day. Just as the body needs the correct food evenly spaced throughout the day, so does the body need activities to keep its arousal level optimal. Our qualified occupational therapist develops effective sensory diet for the children, to implement throughout the course of the day. This aims to improve overall well-being and quality of life.
Sensory Circuits
"Participation in a short sensory motor circuit prepares children to engage effectively with the day ahead. Behavioral clues such as fidgeting, poor concentration, excessive physical contact or lethargy can indicate that a child is finding it difficult to connect with the learning process" - Horwood (2009). Occupational therapists will often recommend starting the day with a sensory circuit: a sensory–motor activity programme which helps children achieve a "ready to learn" state. Sensory circuits are a series of activities designed specifically to wake up all the senses. They are a great way to energize or settle children into the day. Our occupational therapist recommends specific circuits for each child to settle him or her into the day.