My Child Needs Occupational Therapy?

Children are naturally very active. They move around the breaking everything on their way and stepping on mud, and chasing after their pet in the backyard. This is a way for them to connect with the environment. It also helps them learn and grow to become complete human beings, from being expressive to interacting with those around them.

However, not every child is able to go through this natural process on their own. Issues ranging from sensory processing to gross motor skills may be the reason for a child being overly sensitive or not being able to walk on their own. The good news is that occupational therapy may be the turnaround you are looking for to save your child.

With occupational therapy in children, it helps nature independence in a child in various aspects of their life. A therapist helps your child to change tremendously when it comes to mundane activities like eating and cleaning after themselves.

What are Indicators That My Child Needs Occupational Therapy?
Delayed Development
A child is experiencing developmental delay if they are not displaying signs of certain behavior or skills that should be exhibited at a certain age. For instance, Dr. Cindy Gellner says that by the age of 12-15 months, a child should be at least making sounds like “mamma’’ “dada,” and so forth. If that’s not happening, then your child might need help.
However, there is more to developmental delay than being behind children of the same age on a particular skill. It’s about a set of skills. Below are some examples for proper understanding.

• Delays in being able to play and interact at the appropriate age.
• Delays in being able to walk, talk, sit and even crawl are considered developmental milestones.
• Delays in grasping certain things at the required age.

Visual Processing
This is when one is able to make sense of what’s at their site. Below are ways to note visual processing issues with your child:
• Having a hard time recognizing words and letters
• Having a hard time differentiating colors
• Having a hard time picking up a specific item from the rest
• Having a hard time to refer to the blackboard and write it down in a book
• Having a hard time when it comes to spacing
• Writing letters in different sizes
• Having a hard time differentiating between letters and shapes

Fine Motor Skills
This refers to the tiny little movements that human beings make with their lips, toes, fingers, tongue, wrists, and even eyebrows. Below are some of the indicators that your child is experiencing fine motor skills:
• Difficulty with drawing, coloring, and tracing
• Difficulty holding s pencil
• Difficulty using scissors
• Difficulty when it comes to handling puzzles and manipulating toys
• Lacking hand dominance at the required time
• Lack of interest in activities that entail the said skills

Oral Motor Skills
Also known as oral sensory, it refers to being able to control the movement of muscles around the oral and facial regions. This area includes the tongue, jaw, and lips. Here is how to note the lack of oral motor skills:
• Feels tired after eating
• He prefers using the bottle for feeding
• Inability to use a cup when the time is right
• Doesn’t chew food from the molars but the front part
• Inability to ingest most of the liquid when breastfeeding or using a bottle as most drips down
• Over drooling
• Finds it hard using a straw

Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills are those pertaining to the movement and balance of the body. For a child that is behind in development when it comes to gross motor skills, you will note a sense of incoordination and clumsiness. The issue of balance becomes a problem for them.

Sensory Skills
Information that comes around as a result of senses such as smell, sound, and touch. Its characterized by being extremely sensitive to touch, sound, and movements. They may also lack responsiveness, such as not being able to feel when pinched or cut.

Other skills that may show your child requires occupational therapy include:
• Play skills when a child isn’t able to make sense of what play is all about. This can be exhibited through not indulging in play activities, not taking note of toys, moves around aimlessly and not leaving a game before it’s over, and joining another without taking notice.
• Learning problems when your child can’t properly focus in class, get bored with school projects, and makes mistakes with numbers even when older than seven years.
• Lack of social interactions skills

If you are wondering if your child needs occupational therapy, the information above should guide you. With occupational therapy, you may start noting a difference in the area that your child is struggling with. It may also end permanently, allowing your child to lead a normal life.