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The early years of a child are full of new stimulations and novel experiences that drive the cognitive, social, and physical growth of the child. The first three years of the child are a critical time for brain development, especially if a child is delayed or halted in development. If a child needs support for optimal development, pediatric occupational therapy can help.
With early intervention, you can help your child develop their gross motor skills, learn to coordinate their eyes, hands, arms, grip, and posture to form letters more clearly, which they would need to succeed later in life. Occupational therapy is one of several treatments that may be useful as part of early intervention. OT can benefit children with many specific conditions, such as Down syndrome, autism, etc., in addition to children with no clear diagnosis. The goal of occupational therapy is to improve development, lower the potential for developmental delay, and help families to meet the special needs of their children.
When do Parents Need to See a Pediatric Occupational Therapy Specialist?
When their kids struggle to play, learn, and socialize, a pediatric occupational therapy specialist can help their kids succeed in daily activities. Kids who have congenital issues, such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, autism, or mental or emotional health problems or who are dealing with injury from a traumatic event, such as a missing limb or amputation, head injuries, severe burns, or spinal cord trauma will need pediatric occupational therapy.
How the Occupational Therapy will Start?
Pediatric occupational therapists will first do some assessment and provide some preliminary feedback to you about your child’s performance. The age of a child is a factor to determine what assessments will be used and what areas will be assessed. Based on the identified concerns, the therapist will decide the therapy program. They use both standardized tests and observational-based tests when assessing a child.
The tests include fine motor skills test, such as grip, strength, muscle tone, dexterity, handwriting that means spatial orientation, letter formations, legibility, design motor skills, cognitive and perceptual skills, gross motor skills, sensory integration that means addressing auditory, visual, tactile, and vestibular processing, social-emotional skills like separating from parents, playing with peers, etc.
If you have any questions about your child’s development and whether Pediatric Occupational Therapy would be suitable for them please phone on +966 55 357 0011 or +966 55 357 0011.
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