What is school based Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy is a related service provided to students who need improvement in functioning in the educational environment. Occupational therapy includes improving, developing or restoring functions impaired or lost through illness, injury or deprivation. The service improves ability to perform tasks for independent functioning when functions are impaired or lost. Occupational therapy also helps to prevent, through early intervention, initial or further impairment or loss of function.
The functional skills, which a student needs to perform in the educational setting, are dependent upon a variety of factors, including the student’s:
* educational program
* present level of function
* diagnosis
* overall developmental, cognitive and academic abilities
What are the skill areas addressed by Occupational Therapy?
* Environmental/ Classroom Modifications - Student may need enhancement to learning by adapting classroom strategies/educational environment. Includes desk/chair adapation, visual aides, adaptive devices for written communication,etc.
* Activities of daily living(ADLs) - Student may need promotion of opportunities and abilities to manage personal needs within the total educational environment. Includes demonstrating appropriate dressing, personal hygiene, oral motor and feeding skills.
* Mobility - Student may need promotion of freedom of movement within the total educational environment. Includes safety during walking, wheelchair mobility and transferring.
* Gross Motor Skills - Student may need promotion of basic developmental motor skills, posture and balance needed to function in the total educational environment.
* Fine Motor/ Visual Motor - Student may need promotion of opportunities and abilities to manipulate and manage the materials needed within the total educational environment. Includes manipulating toys in the classroom, coloring, handwriting, etc.
* Sensory Processing - Student may need promotion of positioning, exploration, perception, and interaction with others during play and work activities within the educational environment. Includes ability to make choices, organize, and initiate tasks while filtering out the ordinary auditory and visual distractions experienced in the classroom environment. Children with this deficit may exhibit a auditory, tactile, and visual defensiveness in which training may be performed to adapt or improve his or her sensory awareness. The child may also be hyposensitive in which his or her body is not aware of the sensory information around them. In this case the child would undergo sensory stimulation to increase his response to auditory, visual and tactile activities.
For more information please contact Exceptional Student Education
(850) 838-2536.
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