How Occupational Therapy Can Benefit Children

Occupational therapy helps and benefits children a lot. They have programs that allow children to be dependent with their selves. First, the therapist assesses a child so that an appropriate activity or plans will be given according to the child's capability and at the end, the evaluation made will be valid. The overall capability and the wholeness of a child is assisted and developed with a program that is family-approach or child friendly to make sure that the kids will not feel aloof and just feel comfortable during the program.

Since occupational therapy revolves around the growth and development of a child, therefore each stage is monitored for more desirable outcome. Children who can benefit from occupational therapy are those with birth injuries or premature, learning problems or ADHD or developmental/ motor skills disability, problems with coordination, neuromuscular conditions or chronic musculo-skeletal conditions, any behavioral problems and injuries or accidents. Luckily, occupational therapy does not limit their program to these conditions; they extend their activities to fine skills, socialization, sensory integration, oral or motor skills, balance, school performances and food aversion.

Occupational therapy is multi-dimensional in helping kids improve and be independent in all tasks they perform. Occupational therapy is not just for adults; it is as well good for kids for they are doing all their daily activities and for they need to have such help to make the task easier for them to do independently.

This therapy is dealing on the kid's daily activities may it be physical or emotional, and even in a simplest task like brushing, eating and talking, they give such training for better performance, especially kids who are having difficulty in doing simple task with their own. This type of therapy is not only based for house activities but at schools as well.

After every activity that is assigned to a particular child, it is then evaluated on how they perform on certain task. For example, they give a week for a child to perform how to tie his shoe and after one week the child must show improvement or the therapist will modify the approach so that the child will learn the easier way.

To develop well, a child must be exposed to the society as well, and socialize to learn something aside from the program that he is enrolled to. Every piece and every part of the daily changes must be experienced by the child for his growth and development, and it is not forgotten that the parents must be with the child's side to guide and/ or monitor on how the child is doing well with the task.

Should being a occupational therapist does sound like a profession you may well be interested in you can easily look up occupational therapy schools online now by simply clicking on the highlighted hyperlink to our absolutely free on-line occupational therapy school guide.

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Occupational Therapy for ADHD

Behavioral therapy is not the only non-medical therapeutic approach that can help children with ADHD. Studies show that occupational therapy through strenuous exercise and deep pressure can reduce impulsivity, hyperactive behavior, and inattention among children. Occupational therapy is an approach that makes use of play, self-care, and work to promote healthy development and regain function after an accident or injury. Most people think that occupational therapy can only help adults. After all, children don't have "occupations" beyond learning and playing. However, an occupational therapist can evaluate how a child plays and performs at school and uses these activities to help a child overcome a disability like ADHD.

Occupational therapy is a very useful treatment for ADHD. Hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention are not always caused by a deficiency in neurotransmitters. It's common for children with ADHD symptoms to be suffering from an undiagnosed sensory processing disorder - a neurological condition that makes children hyper-sensitive to sensory stimulation like light, touch, sound, and movement. They may react violently when they encounter these uncomfortable sensations. Or they could be so distracted by a certain stimulus, such as sound or movement, that they have difficulty paying attention.

A preliminary study by Temple University researchers discovered that ADHD symptoms can be reduced by using occupational therapy to address underlying sensory integration issues. The study involved 88 children who take ADHD medications and are clients at a Florida occupational therapy center. Among these children, 63 went through 40 one-hour sensory integration sessions, while 25 just took medication.

The techniques used by the researchers addressed the three basic sense systems. The vestibular system handles the sensation of movement and gravity, the tactile system regulates the sense of touch, while the proprioceptive system involves the child's awareness of his or her body in space. The therapies used in the study were tailor-fit to the child's symptoms and involved techniques like working with an exercise ball or playing with textured surfaces.

After six months, the study's authors noted significant improvements in visual auditory sensitivity, tactile sensitivity, and other sensory-avoiding behaviors among the children who received treatment. They were able to pay attention at school despite noisy classmates, had an easier time playing with other children, and could participate in family activities with ease. On the other hand, the children who did not receive occupational therapy showed no improvements after the study period. They were scheduled to receive sessions afterwards.

The great thing about occupational therapy is that many of the techniques can be continued by the parents at home. The researchers noticed that during this study, the parents were able to pick up a few techniques and could maintain their child's improved behavior afterwards. So if you think your child can benefit from this type of therapy, consider finding an occupational therapist near you.

Dr. Yannick Pauli is an expert on natural approaches to ADHD and the author of the popular self-help home-program The Unritalin Solution. He is Director of the Centre Neurofit in Lausanne, Switzerland and has a passion taking care of children with ADHD. Click on the link for more great information about what is adhd.

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