Occupational therapy helps to improve physical, cognitive and motor skills in children. It is natural for parents to assume that these are natural developmental stages that all children go through. However, not all children follow the expected growth and development pattern.
Some children need occupational therapy for children to help them develop a sense of accomplishment, especially when they fall behind their peers.
Assuming the children will catch up at their own time does not consider that a child’s self-esteem suffers when he cannot perform tasks that other children his age do. Besides the slow developers, other children stand to benefit from occupational therapy Singapore.
Children with learning difficulties
Teachers and parents often attribute a child’s poor performance in school to inattentiveness and playfulness. While this is true, it is not always the case. Some children experience learning difficulties because of issues beyond their control.
Occupation therapy Singapore seeks to determine the underlying difficulties that affect a child’s attention, performance, and learning.
For example, a child may have trouble with reading comprehension. While this may be because a child is not attentive, it may also be because he has visual memory challenges. Some children are not able to store images in short-term memory.
Additionally, children with visual discrimination have an easier time when learning. This allows them to notice differences and similarities in the objects with which they interact. Unfortunately, some children lack visual discrimination. These children, for example, have a hard time differentiating m and n, p and q, and b and d.
Naturally, a child’s ability to learn will be affected. Occupational therapy Singapore will introduce activities that will help children improve their visual perceptual skills.
Children with sensory processing disorders
Children with sensory processing disorder often start as fussy babies. Unfortunately, most parents assume children are different, and rightly so. However, some children behave the way they do because they have sensory processing disorder.
When children have sensory disorders, they have a hard time responding to stimuli. This means the child will react abnormally to triggers to their senses, such as sound, light, taste, smell, and touch. For example, while most children are affectionate and enjoy hugs, a child with a sensory disorder may resist hugs.
Occupation therapy for children addresses children with sensory overload or those who under-react to stimulation. For example, some children take too long to register pain because the brain takes too long to identify the stimuli or fails to correctly interpret stimulation so that the child can react as expected.
Poor mental health and behavioural problems
One of the primary objectives of occupational therapy Singapore is to improve mental health. A child with poor mental health often displays discomfort by throwing a tantrum or withdrawing from social interactions.
Occupational therapists seek to understand the impact of the environment on a child’s mental health and behaviour. As long as a child feels uncomfortable in school or attempt, his mental health is likely to suffer. Ultimately, if this is not addressed, the child will develop behavioural issues, such as withdrawal from all play, emotional meltdowns and tantrum-throwing.
There are many more conditions that occupational therapy for children addresses. They include juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, congenital disabilities, and orthopedic injuries. Occupation therapy Singapore attempts to help children build their independence, manage their frustrations, and improve social skills.