Occupational Therapy

We support children to self-advocate for what they know they need at home, school and community environments. The individual’s experience of the world is valid. They could be impacted by a disability that is identified such as autism, adhd, anxiety, cerebral palsy, muscle disease, meningomyelocele, brain injury, achondroplasia, fetal alcohol syndrome, developmental coordination disorder among a few.   

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Sometimes children don’t yet know what they need. Our philosophy is that connection is valued over compliance. We “walk” alongside the child in learning about self-awareness in the areas they might be interested in.

Some of these areas could be:

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Sensory processing – such as managing ways to deal with bright light, overlapping noises, being in the energy of a group of people, temperature differences and clothing choices, recognizing (or not) body signals to use the bathroom, eat or drink liquids (interoception), why using their hands with fidgets might help support attention.

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Gender Identity & Expression - having open, non-judgmental conversations to explore this tender area safely and compassionately through the OT lens.  

Reading situations - deciphering/ neurotypical situations and how that may/may not fit for them, and it’s OK!

Interest based learning - ways of diving into interests that supports educational learning.

Emotional regulation- understanding what might be “regulating” such as grounding outside or being alone engaged “in the flow” with an activity of interest as well as what might be “dysregulating” such as people demanding actions of them at certain times or going somewhere that is sensory overloading.

Hand skills – how it feels when using their hands in relation to strength, coordination, hand dominance and using 2 hands together such as for using clothing fasteners, utensils to eat, printing and typing, and what might feel better or which “adaptive” tools feel more comfortable. Some children request learning skills to bypass what feels hard for them, such as using a keyboard, voice activation, reader pens, reading software and a variety of apps or programs.

Daily skills – Sleeping and eating. Executive functioning. How it feels to brush teeth, wash hair, shower or bathe, make a snack, using the toilet, being out in a parking lot, for example, and exploring ways to make these tasks more comfortable or to learn “how” to do them independently or interdependently.

After a child has become more self-aware, we foster the child’s curiosity in reviewing/trying/learning about possible strategies or materials that might be useful, fun and accommodating to a need they may have identified for themselves.

The next step can be feeling bold in expressing what they need and different ways this can look. And that their perspective of what they need and how they see the world is of value. This can support self-love, self-confidence and happiness!

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All of this self-awareness is to contribute to the child’s realization of their wholeness, in full neurodiverse beauty!