According to the AOTA, Usually, occupational therapy is provided to students with disabilities. But occupational therapy can be made available to other children who are having specific problems in school. Occupational therapy practitioners also work to provide consultation to teachers about how classroom design affects attention, why particular children behave inappropriately at certain times, and where best to seat a child based on his or her learning style or other needs.
Occupational therapy may be recommended for an individual student for reasons that might be affecting his or learning or behavior, such as motor skills, cognitive processing, visual or perceptual problems, mental health concerns, difficulties staying on task, disorganization, or inappropriate sensory responses.
What do school-based Occupational Therapy services include:
- An Evaluation of the student
- A treatment plan (including both classroom and home based interventions)
- Ongoing support for student, teacher and parents
- Recommendations for adaptive equipment as applicable
- IEP input and recommendations
- Handwriting
- Sensory Processing Skills
- Self-care skills
- Social Skills
- Executive Functioning Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
- Gross Motor Skills
- Sensorimotor Skills
- Visual-motor integration
Who can OT's treat?
OT's can treat children with a wide variety of diagnoses including but not limited to:
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- ADHD
- ADD
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Learning Disabilities
- Down Syndrome
- Cerebral Palsy
