Occupational Therapy

Symbiosis Occupational Therapy for Children

sensory
SENSORY
sensory motor skills
MOTOR
Visual
VISUAL
Focus
AUDITORY
Feeding
ORAL MOTOR/ FEEDING
Focus
FOCUS/EQ

What is Occupational Therapy ?

Occupational therapy (OT) is a regulated healthcare profession that enables individuals to achieve their optimum ability to engage in everyday activities.A child’s occupation is to continually develop a range of new skills through engagement in play, self-care, social and academic activities.

Pediatric Occupational Therapists help to enhance skill development and quality of life for children who experience motor, sensory, learning, social and behavioural challenges.

Occupational therapists, through their unique combination of skills, are well positioned to support parents and educators to effectively and creatively problem solve to enhance quality of life for all children.

Occupational Therapy Team

Our Occupational Therapists have the depth of understanding of a Sensory-motor frame of reference and its application to assessment and intervention.

In addition, they have the expertise and experience utilizing recognized therapy models designed to develop self-regulation, social interaction and social thinking skills in children with or without any formal diagnoses.They also have expertise managing the picky eater whose restricted diets are related to a combination of sensory, motor and behavioural challenges.

To ensure the highest quality of therapy services, OT sessions are always accompanied by some home practice programs to allow for optimal carry-over of skills learned in each session.

An essential component of all our therapy sessions and intervention plan is to educate our family members and caregivers on how to carry forward the ideas and strategies which works with the child during the therapy sessions. It helps in generalizing the skills acroos many settings(Home, School, Community settings etc.)

Why choose Occupational therapy services from Symbiosis?

Symbiosis Occupational Therapists can address a variety of issues that children experience. Leisure, productivity and self-care are the general areas that an OT can focus on.

Areas of Intervention:

  • Fine and Gross motor skills
  • Self-care, Attention and Focus,
  • Organizational skills,
  • Self-regulation and social skills,
  • Sleep hygiene,
  • Prescription of assistive technology,
  • Equipment recommendations and environmental modifications,
  • Pre-vocational and Vocational skills.

When your child begins Occupational Therapy services at Symbiosis, the therapist will do an assessment to determine the possible goals for treatment.  Once the assessment has been completed the therapist will explain the results to you and will suggest goals. They will discuss the most ideal treatment schedule with you.

No diagnosis is not necessary for any OT assessment or therapy session at Symbiosis.

Frequently asked Questions

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

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SLP
BI

PROGRAM FOCUS

Children may face difficulties in using classroom supplies such as pencils, crayons, erasers, glue sticks, etc. They may also find it challenging to manage fasteners such as buttons, zippers, and laces. Their small hand muscles may not have the strength and coordination that is needed for those tasks.

An Occupational Therapist utilizes the knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics, and neurology to understand the missing components that may be hampering the development of a child’s hand functions. Through various therapeutic activities, the child’s hands can get stronger and more coordinated, thus allowing him to experience greater mastery, increased skill, and independence.

Children may show some delays in achieving gross motor milestones like crawling, walking, running, catching, and throwing, or simple jumping activities. These challenges later make it difficult for them to keep up with their peers. These children may avoid the playground, physical games, or sports that other children their age find highly rewarding.

An Occupational Therapist (OT) is the appropriate professional to address the child’s needs in this area. Please call our office to discuss what services can be provided by us to support your child.

Some children have significant difficulty with eating. They either eat a very limited repertoire of foods and/or gag very easily when trying new foods. These children are often referred to as picky eaters.

Our therapists take a complete history of those foods that the children will eat including but not limited to taking note of the various temperatures, colors, and textures the child will tolerate.

Treatment for these children focuses on the sensory system that may be oversensitive and incorporates experiences with total body exploration as well as oral exploration. New foods are incrementally introduced following a protocol of what is more likely to be tolerated.

Handwriting skills from the basics of letter formation to taking class notes legibly can be extremely difficult for some children to learn. Occupational Therapists uncover the underlying causes of a child’s difficulty in this area. The child may have weakness, coordination deficits, sensory limitations that do not allow easy control of the pencil, visual tracking deficits, or motor planning limitations.

Occupational Therapists use a multi-sensory approach to handwriting remediation that is based on the foundations of hand anatomy, biomechanics, and sensory functioning. OTs are familiar with the handwriting programs that are often utilized in the school district and can be the expert you need to maximize their effectiveness.

From stacking blocks and doing puzzles to writing letters appropriately, a child must be able to perceive differences and relationships between objects in the environment.

Occupational Therapists help children discover these relationships and begin a map of the spatial planning that is required to function in our world. All skills are learned through play as children are provided with therapeutic experiences that progress from simple to complex.

Through Occupational Therapy treatment improvements have been reported by parents in a child’s handwriting, organizational skills, play skills, and school performance.

Diagnoses:

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
  • Learning Disabilities
  • Developmental Coordination Disorders (DCD)
  • ADHD
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Social Skills
  • Self – regulation skills
  • Executive Function skills
  • Gross motor and Fine motor skills
  • Handwriting difficulties
  • Sensory processing and Sensory modulation challenges
  • Focussing, Attention, Transitions
  • Organisation, time management and emotional control

Services areas:

  • Vancouver
  • Surrey
  • Langley
  • Delta
  • Abbotsford
  • Burnaby
  • Chilliwack
  • New Westminster
  • Richmond
  • Coquitlam
  • Maple Ridge
  • Mission

Telehealth or Virtual Occupational Therapy services are also provided

Team approach is proven to provide the best results