Occupational therapists are people who help individuals learn everyday tasks. Most therapists teach individuals tasks that they used to be masters of or should be masters of. Occupational therapy is not just for adults since kids can benefit from it as well. These are some examples of kids who might need pediatric occupational therapy:
• Kids who suffer from birth defects – There are kids who were unfortunately born being deprived of certain body parts or body functions. Some kids do not have limbs. Some do not have hands. Some cannot hear. Some cannot talk. Thus, they would have to deal with life without these things. Learning how to deal with life with such deprivations can be quite tough. But therapists know what to teach the kids to make life more bearable.
• Kids who have learning problems – Childhood is a critical developmental period because it is at this stage when kids learn so much about life. But there are kids who have learning problems. They quite have a hard time understanding the things that are happening to them as well as the things that they should know or practice. Therapists know some alternative techniques wherein they would be able to know how the kids learn differently and in knowing such, they would be able to develop their learning skills.
• Kids who have a hard time behaving – Kids, in general, can be quite naughty. Nevertheless, there are special kids who suffer from certain disorders; these disorders make it difficult for them to behave appropriately. Therapists can teach these kids how to behave. For example, they can teach the kids how to vent out their anger – instead of hitting other kids, the kids can just practice a number of relaxing techniques so that they would calm down.
• Kids who have coordination disabilities – There are kids who have a hard time doing skills that require coordination of various parts of the body. Examples include using the computer and using dining utensils. Of course, coordination is also required when being out there on the playground. Hand-eye coordination, for example, is needed to hit a ball or catch it. There are also those who have the tendency to do things very slowly because of coordination disabilities.
• Kids who have developmental delays – There are kids who have a hard time mastering skills that they should already have been masters of at some point in their childhood. Some examples of essential skills that kids should be learning include feeding themselves, bathing themselves, and dressing themselves. There are a lot of big kids who do not know how to do these things because of developmental delay. They also need help from occupational therapists.
Kids who have problem with learning and executing life skills usually have a hard time dealing with life. Sometimes they get taunted by schoolmates or even siblings. Worse is that they suffer from low self-esteem because of their incapability. They are the ones who can really benefit from occupational therapy. If you know someone who needs pediatric occupational therapy, contact Cheshire Fitness Zone today!
