The Role of a Children's Occupational Therapist

Children’s occupational therapists (OTs) have specialist skills to work with babies, preschool and school aged children, who have physical, developmental, or sensory processing difficulties, to help them develop skills to succeed in everyday life. 

This may include:

Self-care tasks, such as getting dressed, bathing, brushing teeth, using cutlery and supporting mealtimes.

Play skills, including developmental and messy play and having the necessary hand skills to help children use toys. 

School skills, such as sitting posture, organising belongings, fine motor skills and handwriting.

Sensory Processing skills and how they impact on daily life.

Our OTs have specialist skills to support the developmental needs of children/young people with specific conditions such as:

• Paediatric feeding disorder (PFD), including fussy/picky eating and food refusal
• Autism
• Physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, genetic syndromes
• Prematurity and developmental delay in babies
• Developmental coordination disorder/dyspraxia
• Acquired brain injury