It is really scary to have a son or daughter that does not function normally. In my case, my son was diagnosed Global Development Delay and the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician advise my son to have occupational therapy and soon speech therapy. I do not know what about occupational therapy that time so I search how my son will benefit the occupational therapy.
Occupational therapy helps all person from different walks of life and of all ages. They help individual to become active member of the society by assisting them in learning skills to live independently and providing them activities to cope up with everyday lives.
Occupational therapists create and design intervention through understanding the needs of each individual. They help person with autism and other developmental disorder by providing skills for independent living in people. They provide activities that will help person to learn skills they need in order to live a better lives. Also, they help a person to improve the quality of life both in school and at home.
The occupational therapist first evaluate their patient by observing patient’s behavior and if they can do the task that appropriate to their age such as dressing properly or playing a game. They also observe how the person interacts with his environment so that they can assess what kind of help a person needs.
Occupational therapist may have different strategies to help a person responds better to his or her environment. These strategies includes physical activities such as doing puzzles for proper coordination of muscles, play activities to develop interaction, developmental activities such as brushing teeth and adaptive activities to adjust to transition.
With occupational therapy, a person may develop the following skills:
- May learn to focus on task or activity
- May express feelings in an appropriate manners
- May develop peer and adult relationship
- May engage in play with peers