How OT can help

Think of fine motor skills as the superpower of your child's hand muscles to be used to do everyday tasks that require precision and control. If your child has difficulties with fine motor skills it may look like:

• Poor control and/or grip of a pencil, toothbrush, hairbrush etc

• Avoiding table top tasks

• Poor cutlery use or eats with hands

• Challenges with using buttons, zippers and clasps for dressing

• Gives up quickly or is easily frustrated when engaging in fine motor tasks

Gross motor skills allow children to play in playground and sports activities safely and with fluidity. If your child is having difficulties with gross motor skills it may look like:

• Frequent trips and falls or general clumsiness

• Challenges learning and executing motor movements

• Poor balance skills

• Challenges with throwing, catching, or kicking a ball

• Avoidance of gross motor movements

• Difficulties crossing their mid line

• Bumping into objects in their environment or peers

Self-care skills are the tasks we carry out in order to look after ourselves. This includes toileting, eating, dressing, and bathing. If your child has difficulties with self-care tasks, this may look like:

• Little to no motivation to help in self-care tasks or complete independently

• Avoidance, or fears around certain foods or food textures

• Poor skills with cutlery

• Difficulties with toilet training

• Becomes overwhelmed during bath time, toileting, brushing teeth

• Struggles to use buttons, zippers, clasps for dressing

• Cannot complete simple meal preparation for age expectations

• Requires parents to organise clothes for the day

• Requires parents to complete or frequently prompt each step of morning and night routine

As your child grows into adolescence and slowly into adulthood, the occupations they perform in also change and grow. Teenagers move from play to learning more about life skills which are an important milestone which occupational therapy can help you with. Your child may have challenges with

• Saving money, impulse shopping

• Is anxious around cooking or the stove

• Prefers to be driven places rather than taking public transport

• Always late, or anxious about getting to places on time

• Struggles to study and work on assignments

• etc

Attention & Organisation skills are complex cognitive skills. We need attention to process, organise, remember and recall information. If you child experiences difficulties with attention & organisation it may look like:

• Inconsistent or doesn’t respond to their name

• Difficulties with staying on task

• Moving frequently between play games

• Gets bored easily or lacks motivation

• Parents having to provide frequent or single-step instructions for morning or night routines

• Difficulties starting and completing work independently

• Challenges with problem solving in their daily life

The skills required for navigating social situations is complex and difficult for all children, teens, and adults. Difficulties with this may lead to difficulties establishing positive and healthy relationships with others and impact overall wellbeing of the individual. If you or your child/ teenager is having difficulties with this, you may notice:

• Frequent arguments with friends

• Poor pretend play skills or repetitive play

• Lacks interest in pretend play games with peers

• Repetitive play such as lining things up or colour coding for excessive periods of time

• Prefers time alone and avoids interactions

• Challenges making meaningful connection with same aged peers

• Fixed thinking and difficulties with incorporating other’s ideas in play or in conversation

• Develops negative or unhealthy relationships with peers

Emotional regulation refer’s to one’s ability to recognise, label and cope with one’s emotions in their daily life. This is a difficult skill for all children (and adults!) to experience. If your child experiences emotional regulation challenges it may look like you child:

• Has big meltdowns over seemingly small problems

• Is quick to respond emotionally to things

• May avoid situations that may potentially result in disagreement or conflict with others

• Poor self-confidence and negative self-talk

• Is scared or worried to be left alone or be away from parents/caregivers

• Feel emotions stronger and for longer than other peers

• May become aggressive and hurt self or others

• Quick to react to instructions or comments

All beings are sensory beings and we cannot exclude the importance of sensory processing and the sensory environment when engaging in daily activities at home, school, or out in the community.

Sensory processing refers to one’s ability to process and respond appropriately to different stimuli in one’s environment. This can include taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight. In OT we consider how we can alter the sensory environment or the task to help your child succeed. If your child experiences difficulties with sensory processing it may look like:

• Being easily overwhelmed by large crowds or noisy environments

• Seek out quiet spots in loud places

• Be easily startled by loud noises

• Become overwhelmed by certain smells, or textures, sounds, tastes

• Picky eater

• Seek out sound or textures to calm

• Refusing to wear certain clothes because they hurt, itchy or uncomfortable

• Struggle to understand own force - strong hugs, purposeful crashing into family, bed, pillows etc

• Doesn’t enjoy ‘messy play’