What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy can help infants, children and young people grow, learn, play and socialise so they can develop, thrive and reach their full potential.
Most people who see an occupational therapist want to explore why they may have difficulty performing everyday activities like; dressing, tying shoe laces, feeding themselves, paying attention, writing, drawing, completing classwork or learning the skills to live independently. Some people may have difficulty regulating their emotions or unwinding to get a good nights sleep.
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"Occupation" is a term which refers to partaking in purposeful activities that allow us to live. This includes day-to-day tasks such as self-care skills, attending school or work and partaking in social and leisure activities.
Our Assessments
Before offering you a bespoke occupational therapy programme or a group therapy package, we want to get to know your child, their strengths and their goals.
We use a range of assessment tools depending upon the therapy focus. We may use a standardised assessment. These are assessments designed to measure an individual's abilities compared to other people of the same age. A free telephone screening assessment or email helps us to identify which standardised assessments we will use.
The occupational therapy focus is unique to each person. When you first meet the occupational therapist your child will complete activities for 1-2 hours. The activities will look at how an individual does things such as playing, feeding, writing, manipulating items, completing self-care skills and how well they can move their body in relation to other objects.
We will talk about what your child’s strengths are, what they find difficult and what they would like to find easier (their goals). Sometimes we ask parents, carers and family members and teachers what goals they have for an individual.
After the first session the occupational therapist may give an individual activities to complete or practice. These activities will be related to the therapy goals.
When you visit us for an assessment, we ask individuals to wear comfortable clothing that they can move in.
If individuals want to show the therapist how difficult certain clothing items or activities are we recommend bringing these along to show us or sending us a video of you completing the activity.
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To book your assessment, get in touch today.
Occupational Therapy for Children
At B-Independent Therapy we support an individual to reach their maximum level of independence so they can enjoy all aspects of life. We have a B-lief that everyone can achieve. Therapy should be B-spoke to an individual's life and personal goals. We B-lieve that life is about B-ing happy and partaking in all elements of life. We will work with you to adapt and grade activities and develop the skills your child needs.