Paediatric Occupational Therapy

We support the development of a child’s ability to do the things they want, need and have to do.

Our therapists can support a child’s development with:

  • Develop fine motor coordination and dexterity.
  • Develop precision and control in hand movements.
  • Improve hand strength and endurance through exercises and activities.
  • Address visual perceptual skills necessary for fine motor tasks, such as tracking movements or differentiating between colours and shapes.
  • Develop skills related to handwriting, such as letter formation, spacing, and legibility.
  • Address sensory processing issues that may affect participation in fine motor activities, such as sensitivity to certain textures or tactile sensations
  • Provide adaptive equipment or modifications to support participation in fine motor activities, such as weighted pens or pencil grips
  • Develop strength, endurance, and coordination through physical exercises and activities.
  • Address motor planning and sequencing skills.
  • Develop balance and postural control through exercises and activities.
  • Improve gross motor skills related to sports and recreational activities.
  • Address sensory processing issues that may affect participation in gross motor activities, such as sensitivity to certain textures or movement sensations
  • Develop skills related to mobility and transportation, such as walking, running, and navigating different types of terrain
  • Teach coping strategies such as deep breathing, visualization, or positive self-talk
  • Help the child practice mindfulness through guided meditation or breathing exercises
  • Identify triggers that may lead to emotional dysregulation
  • Develop problem-solving skills to manage difficult emotions
  • Promote self-awareness by recognizing emotional states and physical sensations
  • Provide sensory input to regulate emotions, such as deep pressure touch or vibration
  • Develop social communication skills, such as initiating and maintaining conversations, understanding nonverbal cues, and interpreting social situations
  • Encourage different types of play, such as parallel play, cooperative play, and imaginative play
  • Address sensory issues that may affect participation in social activities or play, such as tactile defensiveness or difficulty tolerating noisy or crowded environments
  • Promote turn-taking and sharing during play activities
  • Build problem-solving skills, such as brainstorming solutions, considering the perspective of others, and using negotiation and compromise
  • Improve emotional regulation through coping strategies, relaxation techniques, or mindfulness exercises
  • Encourage participation in group activities, such as sports teams, music classes, or social clubs
  • Collaborate with caregivers and teachers to provide support and strategies for social and play activities in various settings.
  • Modulation: Helping children regulate their sensory responses to different stimuli in their environment.
  • Discrimination: Identify and differentiate between different types of sensory stimuli, such as textures or sounds.
  • Motor skills: Develop motor skills that are influenced by sensory processing, such as balance and coordination.
  • Integration: Process and integrate sensory information from different sensory modalities, such as touch and movement.
  • Play: Providing opportunities for sensory exploration and play to help children develop their sensory processing skills.
  • Self-regulation: Teaching children strategies for self-regulation, such as deep breathing or sensory input, to help them cope with sensory challenges.
  • Accommodations: Helping children and their families make accommodations in their environment, such as modifying lighting or noise levels, to support the child’s sensory needs.
  • Communication: Develop communication skills related to sensory processing, such as identifying and expressing their sensory preferences or needs.
  • Toileting
  • Dressing
  • Bathing or showering
  • Grooming and hygiene, such as brushing teeth and combing hair
  • Eating and feeding (may need specialist)
  • Sleeping and bedtime routines
  • Using utensils and cups
  • Personal care and hygiene routines
  • Developing fine motor skills for self-care tasks
  • Learning routines for self-care activities
  • Building self-confidence and independence in self-care activities
  • Addressing sensory processing issues that may affect self-care activities
  • Improving muscle tone, strength, and coordination for self-care activities
  • Addressing any physical disabilities or impairments that affect self-care activities.

Our therapists have extensive knowledge and experience working with children of all ages and abilities, including but not limited to children that have:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Attention Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Other behavioural & developmental delays

Assessments

What are the benefits of having my child assessed?

Assessments provide a comprehensive understanding of a child’s developmental needs, identify areas of strengths and weaknesses, inform individualised treatment plans, and monitor progress over time. This helps improve outcomes in academic, social, and daily living activities, promoting independence and quality of life.

Here’s a list of assessments we use, click on each assessment to find more information.

The BOT-2 is a comprehensive assessment tool that evaluates a child’s motor skills across a range of domains, including fine motor control, manual coordination, body coordination, strength and agility, and balance. As a result, the assessment can provide a detailed and accurate picture of the child’s motor skills and abilities.

Early identification of motor difficulties: The BOT-2 can be used to assess children as young as four years old, allowing for early identification of motor difficulties or delays. Early identification can help ensure that children receive appropriate interventions and therapies to address their motor difficulties before they begin to impact other areas of development.

Development of individualised treatment plans: Based on the results of the assessment, we can develop an individualised treatment plan tailored to the child’s specific motor skill deficits. The treatment plan can include activities and exercises to help the child develop the necessary motor skills and abilities.

Monitoring progress over time: The BOT-2 can be used to assess a child’s motor skills and abilities over time, allowing our therapists to monitor progress and adjust the treatment plan as needed.

Improved outcomes: By accurately assessing a child’s motor skills and abilities and developing an individualised treatment plan, we can help improve the child’s outcomes in a range of areas, including activities of daily living, play, academic achievement, and social interaction.

The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (BEERY VMI) is an assessment tool that we use to evaluate a child’s visual-motor integration skills. Here are some of the benefits of the BEERY VMI assessment when done by a paediatric occupational therapist:

Accurate assessment of visual-motor integration skills: The BEERY VMI is a reliable and valid assessment tool that evaluates a child’s visual-motor integration skills, which is the ability to coordinate visual information with motor output. The assessment can provide an accurate picture of the child’s strengths and weaknesses in this area.

It can be used to assess children as young as two years old, allowing for early identification of visual-motor integration difficulties. Early identification can help ensure that children receive appropriate interventions and therapies to address their difficulties before they begin to impact other areas of development.

Development of individualised treatment plans: Based on the results of the assessment, our therapists will develop an individualised treatment plan tailored to the child’s specific visual-motor integration deficits. The treatment plan can include activities and exercises to help the child develop the necessary skills.

Monitoring progress over time: The BEERY VMI can be used to assess a child’s visual-motor integration skills over time, allowing us to monitor progress and adjust the treatment plan as needed.

Overall, the BEERY VMI assessment, when done by a paediatric occupational therapist, can help ensure that they receive the appropriate interventions and therapies to address their difficulties and achieve their maximum potential.

The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales | Third Edition (Vineland-3) is an assessment tool that we use to evaluate a child’s adaptive behaviour.:

The Vineland-3 assesses a child’s adaptive behaviour across a range of domains, including communication, daily living skills, and socialisation. This comprehensive assessment can provide an accurate picture of the child’s adaptive behaviour and identify areas of strength and weakness.

The assessment can help identify specific areas of difficulty that the child may be experiencing, such as communication or daily living skills. We can then develop an individualised treatment plan to address these specific difficulties.
The treatment plan can include activities and interventions to help the child develop the necessary skills.

We use The Sensory Profile™ 2 from Pearson Education as a tool to assess an individual’s sensory processing patterns, identify specific sensory processing challenges, and develop an intervention plan to address those challenges. Here are some ways our OT’s use this assessment:

Assessment: Administer The Sensory Profile™ 2 to gather information about an individual’s sensory processing patterns. This can help the therapist develop a more comprehensive understanding of the individual’s strengths and challenges related to sensory processing.

Intervention Planning: Identify specific sensory processing challenges that an individual may be experiencing. With this information, we can develop an individualised intervention plan that targets the specific sensory needs of the individual. The plan may include strategies to address sensory seeking behaviours, sensory sensitivities, and sensory avoidance.

Goal Setting: Set goals for the individual that are specific to their sensory processing challenges. For example, if the individual is hypersensitive to touch, we may set a goal to improve the individual’s tolerance to touch by incorporating sensory integration activities into their daily routine.

Progress Monitoring: By re-administering the assessment, the therapist can determine whether the individual’s sensory processing patterns have improved, and adjust their intervention plan accordingly.

The McMaster Handwriting Assessment Protocol (3rd Edition) is an assessment tool that we use to evaluate a child’s handwriting skills. Here are some of the benefits of this assessment:

Accurate assessment of handwriting skills: The McMaster Handwriting Assessment Protocol is a reliable and valid assessment tool that evaluates a child’s handwriting skills across a range of domains, including legibility, speed, and form. The assessment can provide an accurate picture of the child’s strengths and weaknesses in these areas.

The assessment can help identify specific areas of difficulty that the child may be experiencing, such as letter formation or spacing between words. Our therapists can then develop an individualised treatment plan to address these specific difficulties.

 

Improved outcomes: By accurately assessing a child’s handwriting skills and developing an individualised treatment plan, we can assist in the improvement of the child’s outcomes in a range of areas, including academic achievement, self-esteem, and social interaction.

The Pretend Play Enjoyment Developmental Checklist (PPE-DC) is a tool we use to assess a child’s ability to engage in pretend play and their enjoyment of it. 

The PPE-DC is typically used with children aged 2 to 7 years old who have difficulties with pretend play or social interaction.

Our therapists will observe the child engaging in pretend play using the toys and props provided. The therapist will take note of the child’s behaviour, including their ability to initiate and sustain play, use of imagination and creativity, and social interaction with the therapist or other children, as well as their enjoyment of the activity.

Based on the child’s performance on the checklist, the therapist can identify the child’s strengths and weaknesses related to pretend play and social interaction. This information can be used to create an individualised treatment plan to address the child’s needs.

We will then discuss the results of the assessment with the child’s caregivers, explaining the assessment results and discuss the treatment plan to address the child’s difficulties with pretend play and social interaction.

Overall, the Pretend Play Enjoyment Developmental Checklist can be a valuable tool to assess a child’s ability to engage in pretend play and their enjoyment of it.

The Group Collaboration Play (GPS) & Problem Solving Scale is an assessment tool that measures a child’s ability to collaborate and problem-solve with peers during play activities. Our therapists can use this tool in various ways to assess and support a child’s social skills development. Here are some examples:

Assessment: The GPS Scale can be used to assess a child’s social skills development in a group play setting. The therapist can observe the child’s interactions with peers during play and rate their collaboration and problem-solving skills on the scale.

Goal Setting: Based on the assessment results, we can identify areas for improvement and set goals for the child to work on. For example, if the child struggles with turn-taking during play, the therapist may set a goal for the child to take turns more consistently during group play activities.

Intervention Planning: Using the GPS Scale results to develop an intervention plan that targets the child’s specific social skills challenges. The plan may include strategies to improve the child’s communication skills, social problem-solving skills, or emotion regulation skills.

Progress Monitoring: By re-administering the assessment, the therapist can determine whether the child’s social skills have improved and adjust the intervention plan as needed.

Overall, we can identify areas of strength and weakness, allowing our therapists to develop targeted intervention plans that help children build the social skills they need to succeed in their daily lives.

This assessment is used to evaluate a child’s fine motor skills and keyboarding abilities. Here are some of the benefits of this assessment when done by one of our paediatric occupational therapists:

Accurate assessment of fine motor skills and keyboarding abilities: Evaluating a child’s fine motor skills and keyboarding abilities across a range of domains. The assessment can provide an accurate picture of the child’s strengths and weaknesses in these areas.

The assessment can be used to assess children as young as five years old, allowing for early identification of fine motor and keyboarding difficulties. Early identification can help ensure that children receive appropriate interventions and therapies to address their difficulties before they begin to impact other areas of development.

Based on the results of the assessment, the paediatric occupational therapist can develop an individualised treatment plan tailored to the child’s specific fine motor and keyboarding deficits. The treatment plan can include activities and exercises to help the child develop the necessary skills.

By accurately assessing a child’s fine motor skills and keyboarding abilities and developing an individualised treatment plan, our therapists can help improve the child’s outcomes in a range of areas, including academic achievement, activities of daily living, and social interaction.

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