A child’s role in life is to play and interact with other children, safely navigate their environment and complete advancing daily living tasks with increased independence.. Our pediatric occupational therapists evaluate a child’s current skills related to play, school performance, and daily activities and compare them with what is developmentally appropriate for that age group. OTs help children perform daily activities they may find challenging by addressing sensory, social, behavioral, motor, and environmental issues.  

Occupational therapists work with children in the following areas:

• improving fine motor skills so they can grasp and release toys and develop good handwriting skills
• addressing hand-eye coordination to improve kids’ play and school skills (hitting a target, batting a ball, copying from a blackboard, etc.)
• learning basic tasks (such as bathing, getting dressed, brushing their teeth, and feeding themselves)
• maintaining positive behaviors in all environments (e.g., instead of hitting others or acting out, using positive ways to deal with anger, such as writing about feelings or participating in a physical activity.
• evaluating the need for specialized equipment, such as wheelchairs, splints, bathing equipment, dressing devices, or communication aids
• improving attention and social skills to allow development of interpersonal relationships.