How Does Occupational Therapy Help Children?

When your health changes, it sometimes feels like you are always waiting. You are waiting for the next medical professional, the next symptom to emerge, or the next treatment to begin. Occupational therapy is designed to help you be your best, irrespective of your health or physical condition. 

Occupation therapy for children to recover, improve, or maintain skills to be as independent as possible. The illness, injury, or disability may cause you to lose some of your body and mental functions. However, occupational therapy will help you cope with your current condition. 

In some ways, occupational therapy gives patients hope that they can be better than they are at the moment. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself because your mobility has been affected, occupational therapists help you see the infinite possibilities, despite the physical or mental limitations. 

The Main Types Of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy is so vast because it covers a range of issues. They include mental health, physical rehabilitation, brain injuries, disease management, driving and community mobility, environment modification, and hand therapy.

When you seek help from an occupational therapist, they will assess your condition, look at how the changes have affected your ability to function normally, and the best approach to help you cope. 

Components Of Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy has eight main target areas. They are;

• Sleep and rest.
• Work.
• Education.
• Leisure.
• Activities of daily living (ADLs): These activities include breathing, eating, drinking, controlling body temperature, maintaining a safe environment, and playing.
• Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs): These activities test how well you can survive on your own. The activities include crucial everyday tasks such as bathing, eating, or even going to the bathroom.
• Social participation.
• Play.

Who Needs Occupational Therapy?

Considering how diverse occupational therapy is, it is no surprise that it meets the needs of children with different types of mental, emotional, and physical limitations. 

Occupational therapy is ideal for children struggling with everyday activities, irrespective of age. Children with poor motor skills and poor coordination will benefit from occupational therapy. Children with low self-esteem or those who struggle with basic tasks will benefit from occupational therapy.

Besides the patient’s condition, the setting also matters. Some children and adults are comfortable at home but struggle to perform at work or in school. Occupational therapists seek to find the cause and solution to these difficulties. 

Goals Of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists do not seek perfection. Instead, their goal is to see the patient perform activities that give them some level of independence. 

Occupational therapy also finds ways to modify the environment to support patients. In cases where the environment limits the patient’s ability to function, the therapists may recommend changes. 

For example, if the patient struggles with mobility, the home can be modified to allow for the easy movement of the wheelchair to vital spaces in the home.

Occupational therapy is designed to help children, the sick, or the disabled find ways to cope and improve their skills to survive daily living. 

Occupational therapists appreciate that fear and lack of confidence sometimes prevent patients from being their best despite their situations. Even as they work to help the patient, therapists will also help boost confidence in their patients.