Occupational Therapy

Theoritical Base

Sensory information provides an important foundation for learning and behavior. Sensory integration is a developmental process. Successful integration and organization of sensory information results in and is further developed by adaptive responses. The 'just right challenge' provides the milieu for sensory integration to occur. Children have an innate drive to seek meaningful experiences from their environment. Sensory integration promotes neuroplasticity. Sensory integration is a foundation for participation.

Application to practice

  • Setting goals for intervention
  • Considerations for intervention
  • The physical environment of intervention
  • Therapeutic interventions related to modulation
  • Therapeutic interventions related to sensory discrimination
  • Therapeutic interventions related to bilateral integration and sequencing
  • Therapeutic interventions related to promoting praxis

Key sensory integrative abilities (Sensory modulation)

  • Sensory discrimination
  • Postural-ocular control
  • Praxis
  • Bilateral integration and sequencing

Outcomes of adequate sensory integration

  • Sensory discrimination
  • Postural-ocular control
  • Praxis
  • Bilateral integration and sequencing
  • Modulation, discrimination, and integration of sensory information
  • Self-Regulation
  • Postural control and bilateral motor coordination
  • Praxis
  • Organize behavior needed for developmentally appropriate tasks and activities
  • Self-esteem
  • Participation in self-care, leisure, and academic and social activities
  • Populations for whom this frame of reference is used

Guide to evaluation

  • Record review
  • Identifying patterns of dysfunction
  • Communication with parents, care providers, and teachers

Function - Dysfunction

  • Sensory modulation abilities
  • Sensory discrimination
  • Dyspraxia
  • Bilateral integration and sequencing dysfunction
  • Modulation, discrimination, and integration of sensory information
  • Poor visual perception and visual motor integration (visuodyspraxia)

Theoritical Base

  • Development of reach and grasp
  • Kinesiological and biomechanical concepts
  • Movement dysfunction

Function - Dysfunction

  • Range of movement and dissociation of movement
  • Alignment and patterns of weight bearing
  • Muscle tone
  • Postural tone
  • Balance and postural control
  • Coordination

Guide to evaluation

  • Overall assessment of functional skills
  • Evaluation of posture and movement

Guide to evaluation

  • Handling
  • Qualities of touch
  • Preparation, facilitation, and inhibition
  • Learning the process of therapeutic handling
  • Integration of neuro-developmental treatment into activity
  • Positioning and adaptive equipment

Theoritical Base

  • The four-quadrant model of facilitated learning - Task specification
  • Decision making
  • Key points
  • Autonomy

Guide to evaluation

  • Does the child know what to do and how to do it?
  • Is the child making astute decisions about their performance? Is the child aware of errors?
  • Is the child recalling the steps of the task and other key features of performance?
  • Are there any signs of self-prompting?

Function - Dysfunction

  • Mental imagery to complete a task
  • Self-instruction to complete a task
  • Successfully uses self-monitoring to complete a task
  • Successfully uses self-instruction to complete a task
  • Successfully problem solves to complete a task
  • Successfully uses automaticity to complete a task

Application to practice

  • Task

Theoritical Base

  • Synthesis of child, occupational, performance, and environment - in time.

Application to practice

  • The child–environment–occupation fit
  • Work and productivity
  • Play and leisure
  • Activities of daily living
  • Rest and sleep
  • Occupational patterns

Function - Dysfunction

  • Work and productivity
  • Play and leisure
  • Activities of daily living and self-care
  • Rest and sleep

Guide to evaluation

  • Evaluating occupational performance in time
  • Evaluating the environment
  • Evaluation synthesis

Theoritical Base

  • Interaction between caregivers and children
  • Interaction between caregivers and children with disabilities
  • Developing habits and routines
  • Developing habits and routines for children with disabilities
  • Social participation with peers
  • Children with disabilities: social participation with peers

Function - Dysfunction

  • Temperament
  • Habits and routines
  • Environment
  • Peer Interaction

Guide to evaluation

  • Assessing caregivers’ needs for support in increasing children’s social participation
  • Assessment of children’s social participation

Application to practice

  • Consulting with caregivers
  • Role modeling
  • Activity-based intervention when parents are ill
  • Promoting social participation in classroom settings
  • Promoting effortful control in inclusive settings
  • Occupation-based groups to increase children’s social participation with peers
  • Structuring an activity group
  • Choosing activities
  • Dealing with activity group process
  • Grading the amount of frustration
  • Aggressive behavior
  • Group resistance
  • Culture, beliefs, and values
  • Termination

Theoritical Base

  • Visual perception is a developmental process.
  • Visual perceptual processing is learned and increases with development, experience, and practice, and through stimulation from the environment.
  • Children can learn by interacting with and observing adults and other children.
  • Learning does not necessarily follow a developmental sequence. A deficit in one area does not predict a deficit or problem in another area.
  • Difficulty with visual perception can interfere with daily occupations including the development of reading and writing skills.

Function - Dysfunction

  • Visual reception skills
  • Visual attention
  • Visual memory
  • Visual discrimination
  • Visual spatial
  • Visual motor integration

Guide to evaluation

  • Visual spatial assessment
  • Visual motor integration assessments

Application to practice

  • Input: environmental adaptations
  • Processing: remediation of visual reception
  • Processing: remediation of visual cognition
  • Processing: visual reception strategies
  • Processing: visual cognition: strategies
  • Processing: environmental adaptations for visual reception
  • Visual cognition: environmental adaptations
  • Output: remediation of performance skills
  • Output: strategies for performance
  • Output: strategies for occupation

Theoritical Base

  • Motor control, motor learning, and motor development
  • Dynamic systems
  • Learning
  • Concepts
  • Child-task-environment match

Function - Dysfunction

  • Motor task
  • Child’s environment
  • Task requirements
  • Child-task-environment

Guide to evaluation

  • Child
  • Task
  • Environment

Application to practice

  • Occupational therapy evaluation
  • Observation of task performance
  • Art project
  • Goals and objectives
  • Intervention
  • Physical education

Theoritical Base

  • Multiple intelligences
  • Discrete motor skill learning
  • Optimal challenge point
  • Teaching writing

Function - Dysfunction

  • Writing posture
  • Components
  • Use of writing tools
  • Grasp
  • Writing legibility

Guide to evaluation

  • Handwriting legibility
  • Speed
  • Tool use
  • Functional visual skills
  • Sensory processing
  • Attentional issues
  • Learning issues

Application to practice

  • Peer Support
  • Working in a first-grade classroom


Enquiry

Services

  • Assessment & Evalution
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Behaviour Therapy
  • Remedial Therapy
  • Behaviour Modification
  • Speech Therapy