Occupational therapy is particularly suitable for children and is even prescribed for babies. Apart from physical impairments, such as spasticity, the clientele also includes children who are developmentally delayed and suffer from ADHS/ADS, the Down syndrome or are learning disabled. In practices, kindergartens, early intervention centers, child and adolescent psychiatries or children’s clinics, the children are worked with in occupational therapy. The contents of the therapies range from cognitive training, perception training, social competence training, reading and writing exercises, sensory integration, therapeutic games and much more.
Does my child need occupational therapy?
Many parents wonder whether their child needs remedies such as occupational therapy. They want to give the child the best possible start in school, but the question arises whether the child really needs occupational therapy or perhaps physiotherapy, speech therapy or no therapy at all. Either parents observe deficits in their children, mostly in comparison to siblings, or educators/pedagogues and doctors notice a limitation in the children.
If the kindergarten teacher recommends a therapy for their child to the parents, this should be followed up. At the pediatrician, various tests are carried out which are scientific, standardized and have norm values. Such tests are also offered in social pediatric centers.
Before the remedy occupational therapy is prescribed, a detailed anamnesis is taken, if necessary also with a developmental questionnaire, a physical examination and a test as mentioned above. The doctor or other professional evaluates the results and decides accordingly whether or not the child is prescribed occupational therapy. It is not for the parents to decide whether the child needs occupational therapy or not. If there is any suspicion, the parents should speak to the child’s educators or introduce the child to the pediatrician.
What do children learn there, does it even make sense?!
The contents of occupational therapy for children can be quite different depending on the diagnosis for which the child has been prescribed occupational therapy. On the prescription, the doctor already determines the area in which the action restriction lies, which is why the therapist adapts his therapy exactly to the diagnosis.
- Children often receive occupational therapy, for example, because they need help at school or cannot follow lessons.
The content of such a therapy unit can be, for example, reading and writing training or sensory integration. The content is therefore tailored to the child’s needs.
- If a child has deficits in the area of motor skills, a fine and/or gross motor training is carried out with him or her, or exactly this area is trained with him or her via the handicraft. In such a case e.g. a cognitive training would not make much sense, which is why it would not be prescribed by a doctor or carried out by a therapist.
- For children who are socially weak or have behavioral problems, therapy could include social competence training in a group, therapeutic games (possibly role plays) or work with animals (animal-supported therapy).