How I Can Help

As a Paediatric Occupational Therapist I am able to address the underlying difficulties that affect a child’s successful participation in everyday tasks.

Your child might be experiencing some of the following difficulties:

  • Delay in development of play skills in the early years
  • Difficulty managing self-care tasks, for instance getting dressed, managing fasteners or using cutlery
  • Accepting a wide range of food or willingness to try new food. They might only accept food with certain textures or tastes
  • Developing their handwriting skills
  • Maintaining a good sitting posture
  • Attention and concentration in class
  • Coping with certain sensory experiences, for instance being extra sensitive to loud noise or the texture of clothing
  • Throwing or catching a ball with coordinated movement

I’m able to support children and young people with a wide range of special needs, including:

  • Fine motor difficulties
  • Gross motor difficulties
  • Global Developmental Delay (GDD)
  • Developmental Coordination Difficulties (DCD/ Dyspraxia)
  • Learning Difficulties
  • Down Syndrome
  • Sensory Processing Difficulties
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Social Communication Disorder
  • Autism
  • Feeding Difficulties

Each individual child’s needs will be assessed and meaningful targets will be set together.

 

Assessment

A comprehensive assessment can be completed at home or the child or young person’s childminder, nursery or school. Standardised assessments and clinical observations will be used to determine the underlying problems affecting your child’s functional skills. Information will be gathered from you as the parent and the staff in their education setting, which will offer a valuable overview of the difficulties that your child is experiencing. This will guide the assessment process to ensure that the most appropriate assessment tools are used. You will receive a detailed report with the assessment findings and recommendations, which will provide you and the education staff with the tools to support your child in the best way possible.

Therapy provision

Therapy provision will be tailored according to your child’s needs and the resources available within the home and school setting. The focus of the therapy sessions is based on functional and meaningful activities to increase your child’s independence in daily activities. All therapy provision is based on evidence-based practice to ensure that the most effective treatment approach is used. The therapy sessions will be provided at home or the child or young person’s education setting. Parents will receive regular updates if the therapy is provided in nursery or school to ensure that you feel part of the process. Recommendations will be made for home to offer a holistic approach.

Training

I believe in sharing knowledge and empowering those who care for children and young people to provide the best support possible in nurseries and schools.

Bespoke training covering a range of topics can be offered to nursery and school staff.

These include:

  • Fine and gross motor difficulties, how these affect everyday tasks and strategies to support development
  • Handwriting difficulties
  • Sensory Processing Difficulties
  • Feeding Difficulties

I would love to hear from you to discuss the way that I could support your child through therapy provision.