Occupational therapy (OT) is a therapeutic intervention that deals with strengthening fine motor skills, sensory integration, and independent life skills.
For children, whose “occupation” is school and play, it focuses more sharply on developmental milestones and skills required for play and academic activities. Occupational therapists working with younger children typically use techniques and routines that seem like play, but are actually designed to target areas of delay and difficulty.
When our occupational therapists work with our older students, the focus changes, as the occupation is now centered on increasing independence within life skills and pre-vocational activities, both of which are necessary for a successful transition into adulthood. Therapy is now based in real-life settings, such as our ADL apartment, school store, or in the community, and the concentration shifts to prerequisites for everyday living.
Our occupational therapists and occupational assistants are also trained in therapy with a sensory integration approach. This method uses strategies to help children better process and tolerate the information they take in through their senses. Sensory integration is a critical factor in understanding our students. Often, we see students attempting to manage what appears to be a common experience in life—walking down the hall with their peers when a fire truck drives by outside with a loud siren, people laughing loudly from behind a closed door, or the overhead lights buzzing. A student may become overwhelmed with hearing all of these noises. When an individual becomes dysregulated as a result of difficulties in processing sensory information, maladaptive behavior can occur. Sensory integration helps students to self-regulate in order to get them to a place where they are able to function and acquire new skills.
