Does My Child Need Occupational Therapy?

Do you have any concerns about your child’s behavior during home, school, and social life? Do you have any experiences that are hard to explain and find out that most children at the age of the child should not have such difficulties? In that case, there is a need to introduce occupational therapy as one of the tools for a child’s further development.

Esperanza Speech and Occupational Therapy Centre targets children who experience concerns in different aspects of their lives. The dedicated and highly qualified occupational therapists at our center approach therapies using proven research that applies to address the challenges faced by kids in their physical, social, and emotional learning.

Common Challenges Addressed by Occupational Therapy:

Delays in Development:

A kid who has a developmental delay may not be reaching anticipated milestones in domains such as social behavior, learning, or motor abilities. Among the warning signs are:

• delays in reaching fundamental motor milestones, such as walking, crawling, and sitting
• Learning or understanding topics at an age-appropriate level can be challenging.
• Struggles with playing or social interactions compared to peers

 

Fine Motor Skills:

Smaller hand and finger motions, such as holding a pencil or using utensils, are examples of fine motor abilities. If your kid struggles with these abilities, it may impact their capacity to:

• Use scissors, buttons, zippers, or shoelaces
• Write neatly or form letters and numbers correctly
• Complete tasks requiring hand-eye coordination, like drawing or coloring

 

Gross Motor Skills (Movement, Strength, & Balance):

Using the bigger muscle groups, gross motor abilities aid youngsters with balance and coordination. When a youngster struggles with these abilities, they may seem awkward or struggle with:

• Climbing stairs or balancing on one foot
• Coordination during physical activities like sports or games
• Understanding concepts like left and right, or having trouble with ball skills

 

Visual Processing:

Understanding what we see is a component of visual processing. Your kid may be experiencing visual processing issues if they struggle with tasks like reading, writing, or object identification. These issues might include:

• Difficulty with visual tracking or copying from the board
• Trouble recognizing and organizing shapes, letters, or objects
• Confusion with the concept of right versus left

 

Eating and Feeding Challenges:

Proper eating habits are vital for a kid’s health, nutrition, and improvement. If your baby faces problems with eating or feeding, they may showcase:

• Difficulty using utensils or drinking from a cup
• Problems with chewing or swallowing food
• Sensitivity to certain food textures or picky eating behaviors

 

Processing of Sensations:

Sensory processing entails how the brain translates sensory input like sounds, smells, and textures. Children who have difficulty with sensory processing can also display signs that include:

• Overreacting to sounds, touch, or certain movements
• Difficulty calming down after becoming upset
• Being overly sensitive to changes in their routine or environment

 

Social Interaction Skills:

To interact with others and build connections, social skills are necessary. Occupational therapy can assist if your kid struggles to interact with classmates, comprehend social signs, or adjust to new surroundings. There are several indicators of delays:

• Struggles with interacting socially or making eye contact
• Difficulty adapting to new social settings or situations
• Being overly focused on one topic or activity, hindering social connections

 

When to Consider Occupational Therapy:

You should immediately strive to get help if you find your child struggling in any of the activities mentioned above. At Esperanza Speech and Occupational Therapy Centre, it is our pleasure to walk with your child through all these difficulties to assist him/her to become successful in life.

 

How We Can Help:

We offer specialized clinical occupational therapy services to the child according to his/her requirements. This website covers the goal of helping your child with the development of fine and gross motor skills, and interpersonal skills, or to perform meaningful tasks at home, in school, and later in life.

 

Get Our Free Occupational Therapy Milestone Checklist:

At Esperanza Speech and Occupational Therapy Centre, we’re here to provide professional and personalized care to your child to improve their capability. For any concerns or want to know your baby’s development, get our free Occupational Therapy Milestone Checklist or contact our experts today at +971 55 524 1094.