Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy helps individuals perform their occupations – including activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, rest and sleep, education, work, play, leisure, and social participation – to the best of their abilities at home, school, work, and within the community.  Occupational therapy is client-centered, occupation-centered, and evidenced based.  After a thorough assessment of the individual’s skill sets, an Occupational Therapist (OT) will work with the client and his or her family to determine goals and objectives.  Treatment is centered upon research-based frames of reference and utilizes meaningful and purposeful activities and a “just-right” challenge. 

An OT will look not only at the client but the environment and the occupation or activity as well, to determine the best course of treatment for the client.  For example, treatment may include strengthening a client’s perceptual-motor skills (hand-writing, visual scanning), modifying the activity or occupation (use of a rocker knife versus a standard kitchen knife), or modifying the environment (lowering the position of a light switch so a client using a wheelchair could reach it).

Sensory Integration (SI) is a specific area addressed by OTs.  SI is the organization of sensory input for use. Individuals with neurological differences, including those with autistic spectrum disorders, frequently experiences difficulties in processing, organizing, and responding appropriate to sensory information within one of the seven senses: hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, [or formally: auditory, visual, tactile, gustatory, olfactory] and the two less known senses, vestibular and proprioception.  Difficulties with Sensory Integration can be very disruptive to an individual’s adaptive functioning and interfere with completion of daily activities and daily routines.  An OT can complete a Sensory Integration evaluation and identify specific areas of difficulty for an individual as well as provide recommendations and/or specific therapeutic interventions.  Effective Sensory Integration is critical for appropriate adaptive functioning and successful participation in occupations at home, school, work, and in the community.

If your loved one exhibits symptoms of autism or another neurodevelopmental disability, please contact your family care physician or the Center for Autism.