Emily Rourke, OTD, OTR/L

The occupational therapy process includes an OT evaluation before care starts. Here are the four steps your family can expect when starting occupational therapy:

1. Complete OT evaluation. An occupational therapist first identifies your child’s strengths and needs through a thorough OT evaluation, also known as an OT assessment or screening. You’ll answer questions about your child’s skills, and your child will most likely demonstrate their skills via hands-on activities with the therapist. Evaluations can last 30 minutes to a few hours.
2. Approve OT plan. The therapist develops a care plan with individualized goals and customized interventions based on your child’s needs. You can also share any specific goals or concerns before approving the OT plan.
3. Start therapy sessions. The therapist works directly with your child and your family, using various strategies and exercises to systematically improve areas of limitations and to build upon a child’s strengths. Some exercises your child might participate in are animal walks, obstacle courses, and therapy swing activities. Your family may learn strategies for supporting your child’s individualized needs at home, such as ways of supporting emotional regulation and sensory processing. The therapist may also recommend tools and techniques to use at home, in the community, or in the classroom to help your child succeed.
4. Monitor your child’s progress. Parents and caregivers can expect ongoing progress monitoring and communication to ensure the child is achieving their short and long-term goals.

Occupational therapy can also be provided virtually via telemedicine. Virtual therapy is a great option for families in rural areas who may not have access to in-person services, or for families who prefer to have therapy in their child’s home.

Virtual OT allows the opportunity for increased caregiver participation and understanding of a child’s strengths, areas of improvement, and generalization of skills in the child’s home environment. Virtual therapy also provides increased opportunities for caregiver and family education to support the child and the family based on each family’s needs.

Your doctor may recommend feeding therapy to help your child with their negative feelings and behaviors towards food. Feeding therapy can be a part of your existing speech and language, behavior, or occupational therapy. For example, a speech and language pathologist (SLPs) can help with chewing and swallowing related issues and an occupational therapist (OT) can help with fine motor skills related to eating. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a type of behavior therapy that will aim to improve behaviors with mealtimes and increase dietary variety and decrease unwanted behaviors such as food refusal.