Has your child’s pediatrician recommended occupational therapy because your child’s struggling with day-to-day activities? Are you scheduled for an OT assessment and want to give your child (and yourself) a sense of what to expect? Try not to worry: Occupational therapy assessments are fairly straightforward and often less intimidating than expected!
While the idea of “testing” your child might sound stressful, occupational therapy assessments are crucial in ensuring your child gets the care they need. These standardized evaluations will give the Mark Their Words Therapy Services occupational therapists a clear picture of your child’s strengths and limitations, allowing us to design a personalized treatment program that suits their needs.
Keep reading to learn more about occupational therapy and the OT evaluation process, including a quick overview of some common assessments. If you still have questions, call us at our Clarksville, TN clinic. Our friendly staff is happy to answer questions!
Why Would a Child Need Pediatric Occupational Therapy?
Before diving into the ins and outs of occupational therapy assessments, it’s important to understand why parents might choose to place their child in occupational therapy.
Occupational therapy is a specialized healthcare field that focuses on helping people who are impaired by illness, injury, or other disabilities perform everyday tasks. Pediatric occupational therapy typically helps kids who are struggling to develop the skills they need to thrive in school and play, such as the following:
- Fine motor skills (using the small muscles in the hands), including handwriting
- Regulating sensory input (i.e., becoming easily overstimulated or understimulated)
- Emotional or behavioral skills
- Social skills
- Learning differences
- Other developmental delays
Kids with neurological or muscular conditions, such as autism, ADHD, or cerebral palsy, often benefit from occupational therapy, as their condition can profoundly impact how they grow, develop, and interact with the world. Occupational therapy gives them the tools they need to thrive in day-to-day life.
Why Are Occupational Therapy Assessments Needed?
One of the reasons occupational therapy at Mark Their Words Therapy is so beneficial for kids is that our therapists work closely with both children and their caregivers to provide a customized program. For example, a child who struggles with fine motor skills doesn’t necessarily need to work on their social skills.
We perform assessments to give us a complete picture of your child’s needs. They provide us a baseline for your child’s abilities so that we can better track their progress while also letting us know which therapeutic techniques will be most effective for them.
Because these assessments are based on pediatric standards, they can also give you more information about your child, helping you to understand how your child compares to their peers: not just in the way they’re behind but the ways they’re ahead. Our assessment results will give you a better sense of how you can support your child.
Examples of Occupational Therapy Assessments
Pediatric occupational therapists utilize several different assessments. Each one looks at different skills and abilities by age group. Our specific evaluations will vary based on recommendations from your child’s pediatrician, other health history information, and observations from you.
Many of these assessments involve clinical observation, which means they won’t particularly feel like a test to your child. Instead, we’ll observe your child performing different tasks that give us the necessary information. To your child, though, it’s all just playtime.
Here are a few examples of how we measure different skills and abilities:
- Fine Motor Skills: For general skills, we’ll ask your child to perform age-appropriate craft activities, like stringing beads or coloring. If handwriting is a concern, we’ll ask your child to write something for us as a sample.
- Gross Motor Skills: These are the movements that use the whole body. To evaluate them, we might play a game of catch or ask your child to complete a fun, simple obstacle course.
- Sensory Input: We’ll provide simple, “disguised” tests to see how your child reacts to different sensory stimuli. For example, we might put on music while your child plays and observe how they react.
- Social Skills: Our therapist will sit down and chat with your child about their interests, getting to know them while they observe how your child communicates with others.
- Cognitive Ability: We’ll ask your child to perform an activity that allows us to observe their ability to follow directions or solve problems, such as working on a puzzle or making playdough from a recipe.
What Else to Expect from Your Child’s Assessment Session
We do everything possible to ensure your child has a fun, playful experience during their assessment. Unfortunately, parents have to do a bit more work!
We’ll ask you to complete a lengthy questionnaire that asks questions about your child’s behavior at home, school, or in other social settings. It will also ask about developmental milestones (such as when your child said their first word or took their first step), so make sure to bring those dates with you.
Be as honest and accurate as you can in the questionnaire–this information is as important to your child’s assessment as the observational tests.
The assessment length will vary based on what we’re testing, but you can expect to be with us for at least a few hours. Our staff can give you more personalized information once you make the appointment.
You can expect the results of the test in about 7-10 days, which gives us ample time to write up our observations, review your questionnaire, and create a recommended occupational therapy program.
Need More Information? Call Us to Make An Appointment!
We understand that learning your child may need occupational therapy can be frightening for some parents. However, our aim is always to help your child live a full, healthy life. Our assessment process is simply the first step.
To learn more about Mark Their Words Therapy’s occupational therapy program and how you can set up an appointment for an assessment, call us today!
Sources:
- https://integratedlistening.com/what-to-expect-at-a-pediatric-occupational-therapy-evaluation-and-visit/
- https://together.stjude.org/en-us/care-support/rehabilitation/occupational-therapy-intake-evaluation.html
- https://www.otforkids.co.uk/services/assessments/index.php
Tags: Pediatric Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Occupational Therapist, Child healthcare, natural pain relief
