Occupational Therapy is a profession that incorporates meaningful & purposeful activity to enable people with limitations or impairments to achieve their full potential. The primary goal of Occupational Therapy is to enable people to participate as fully as possible in the activities of everyday life. Pediatric Occupational Therapists help children develop skills in the areas of self-care, school and play, which are a child’s main areas of occupation. By supporting children and enabling them to achieve their maximum potential, Pediatric Occupational Therapists indirectly work on developing confidence, self-esteem, social skills, play skills and general well-being. Based on a holistic vision of the human being, on the unity of body and mind, the aim of the therapy is to integrate the cognitive, emotional, symbolical and physical interactions in the individual’s capacity to be and to act in a psychosocial context.
The techniques used are varied and tailored to each patient:
Sensory Integration Technique (Jane Ayres)
Spontaneous and directed play
Gestures education or rehabilitation
Coordination and equilibration
Graphomotor or Handwriting Reeducation
Dynamic Relaxation Techniques
Specific Educational & Re-education techniques.
The Occupational Therapist works with people of all ages, from birth to adulthood, with disorder or simple difficulties such as:
Attention & Concentration Deficit
Learning Difficulties / Disabilities
Developmental Coordination Disorder / Dyspraxia
Handwriting Challenges or Deficits
Planning & Organization Difficulties
Delayed or impaired Gross or Fine Motor Development
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
Traumatic injuries (brain or spinal cord)
Pervasive Developmental Disorders / Autism
Neurological disorders - Neuromuscular disabilities
General / Specific Developmental Disabilities or Delays
Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy or any other Physical Disabilities.
Occupational Therapist