How can occupational therapy help my child?
Occupational therapy helps patients build, recover or maintain the skills they need to go about their daily activities. For children, daily activities can be everything from dressing and feeding themselves, to coloring and writing, to building a tower of blocks.
If your child's development is hindered by illness, injury or a condition such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or sensory processing difficulties, the experts of the Occupational Therapy Program at Tufts Medical Center can help. Our licensed occupational therapists offer comprehensive evaluation and individualized treatment recommendations for patients from birth through age 21.
Family-centered services
We start by getting to know your child and family. As a parent, you're the most important member of your child's care team, so we work closely with you throughout our evaluation process. In addition, we use a variety of standardized assessment tools to pinpoint areas of concern, such as:
- Difficulties eating, dressing, drawing and writing
- Problems with learning, understanding, problem solving and other thinking skills
- Struggles in interacting with others at home and school
- Issues understanding sensory experiences such as sounds, touch and movement
Our treatment recommendations are individualized to your child and family. We might help you find ways to adapt your home environment to make it easier for your child to make breakfast in the morning and organize his or her own backpack for school. Or we might teach you how to modify simple tasks, such as bathing, so your child can complete them independently.
Whatever your child's needs, we'll be there to help him or her gain confidence and independence.
Combined occupational & physical therapy evaluation
For children who have multiple areas of concern — including difficulties with gross motor skills, fine motor skills, physical abilities, visual motor skills and/or sensory processing skills — we team up with Tufts Medical Center pediatric physical therapists to complete a comprehensive evaluation.
The combined occupational and physical therapy evaluation may provide:
- Recommendations regarding basic equipment needs
- Ideas to facilitate fine and/or gross motor skills with home activities
- Recommendations regarding sensory accommodations
- Activities to improve handwriting skills
- Consultation with other professionals, including school therapists
The goal of our evaluation is to provide your doctor with the information he or she needs to develop the best possible treatment plan for your child.
