Occupational Therapy

Pediatric occupational therapy (OT) help children gain independence while also strengthening the development of fine motor skills, sensory motor skills, and visual motor skills that children need to function and socialize.

At CAN Do Kids, our therapists primarily focus on sensory integration issues which affect Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).

Like occupational therapists in adult settings, pediatric OT treatment usually begins with ADLs. One of the biggest differences here is that very often, you will be doing habilitation instead of rehabilitation. What this means is that in a setting with older adults, you may be working on retraining the ability to put on pants. Whereas with a 6-year-old with autism who never had the ability in the first place, you are teaching them for the first time. This is an interesting distinction and has led to battles with insurance companies and other payor sources, and has caused many states to write new laws to ensure these services are covered.

Another difference is that with older adults, you are generally attempting to help them regain all of their ADL skills, or at least return them to their prior level of function. Conversely, in pediatric practice, not all ADLs skills are age-appropriate for your patients.

This is why it’s important to be aware of developmental milestones – otherwise, you may be asking a child to attempt a skill that even a typical peer would struggle with.

Beyond ADLs (and Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) for older patients), pediatric Occupational Therapists (OTs) and Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTAs) work on any skill that is a barrier to participating in these tasks or other age-appropriate occupations, like play or education. Commonly, this includes fine, visual & gross motor skills, ability to transition between tasks, emotional & behavioral regulation, ability to process sensory input, attention, and ability to follow directions.

A child’s role in life is to play and interact with other children. Our pediatric occupational therapist and pediatric occupational therapist assistants evaluate a child’s current skills related to play, school performance, and daily activities and compare them with what is developmentally appropriate for that age group. OTs and COTAs help children perform daily activities they may find challenging by addressing sensory, social, behavioral, motor, and environmental issues. 

Our OTs and COTAs work with children in the following areas:

• improving fine motor skills so they can grasp and release toys and develop good handwriting skills
• addressing hand-eye coordination to improve kids’ play and school skills (hitting a target, batting a ball, copying from a blackboard, etc.)
• learning basic tasks (such as bathing, getting dressed, brushing their teeth, and feeding themselves)
• maintaining positive behaviors in all environments (e.g., instead of hitting others or acting out, using positive ways to deal with anger, such as writing about feelings or participating in a physical activity.
• improving attention and social skills to allow development of interpersonal relationships.

CAN Do Kids is a pediatric therapy practice with over 30 years of experience in evaluation, treatment, and implementing therapeutic techniques to address the underlying neurological processes that impact learning and behavior.

Each therapist at CAN Do Kids has special training in sensory integration techniques in addition to their own specialty field of practice which allows them to properly diagnose and care for every pair of shoes that walk through the door.. big or small!