Quite often a child who is part of a special education program at school will be pulled out of class once or twice a week for occupational therapy. Many people are not exactly sure what occupational therapy is though, and what the benefits are. It is not a straight forward as physical therapy, and is quite often associated with older people or those who have been involved in a severe accident.
Occupational therapy is often thought of therapy for an occupation, and since kids don’t have jobs why would they need it. It makes more sense if you think about a kids job as learning in school and playing and interacting with other kids. An occupational therapist will evaluate how well a child does this and compare it to where they should be developmentally.
Occupational therapy is beneficial for kids who have ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorders, and other behavioral problems and mental health issues.
During an occupational therapy session a child might work on fine motor skills to help with their handwriting, they may work on techniques to help with anger management and ways to redirect their anger. Hand eye coordination is also part of OT. This will help with the skills they need to play sports, and just play around with other kids.
Occupational therapy is different from physical therapy in several ways. Physical therapy works with pain, muscle strength, the joints, and gross motor skills. Occupational therapy deals with more of the fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and sensory processing. Although both types of therapy help kids improve their lives and the quality of their lives, they are different approaches and used for different reasons.