When a child receives an Occupational Therapy Evaluation, his or her strengths and weaknesses are noted. Areas examined include but are not limited to muscle strength and endurance, range of motion of the joints, tactile discrimination, eye/hand coordination, fine motor ability, and visual perception. The occupational therapist also looks at the child's social interactions with peers and therapists.
After the evaluation is complete, the child may begin therapy if it's necessary. Deficits in the above areas will manifest in different ways; for instance, muscle strength/endurance may be seen as clumsiness and fatigue. Problems with tactile issues may manifest as aversion to certain types of clothing or foods and over-or-under responsiveness to pain or injury. Poor range of motion, deficits in eye/hand coordination, problems with fine motor ability, and decreased visual perception often result in poor performance in sports, poor handwriting, and will likely lead to problems with academic performance. In addition, the child's functional abilities, such as self-care, may be impacted, as the child may not be able to function at a developmentally appropriate level.
Ultimately, the occupational therapist looks at your child's occupation. As children develop, the function in varied occupations or roles from self-care to play to schoolwork; the occupational therapist's goal is to allow the child to perform as independently and successfully as possible in their chosen or developmentally appropriate roles.
Children's Therapy Works clinical teams rely on the comprehensive information recorded during our evaluation procedure to establish a solid baseline for your child's treatment plan. Don't forget, we're used to working together, after all, it often takes OT, PT and Speech to cover all the angles. We call it the Full Circle Approach.
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