Occupational Therapy
A child uses hands and the senses of sight, hearing, and touch in play, and in everyday activities such as eating and dressing. This is vitally important in how a child will progress in his or her development.
An Occupational Therapist will work with you to help your child master the everyday skills, such as feeding, dressing, and toileting, as well as playing and manipulating objects (toys, scissors, pencil), so that she or he can live as independently as possible.
The Occupational Therapist will visit your child at your home and/or at the preschool where she or he attends, or, if you'd prefer, the visit can be arranged at the Early Intervention office. This service is provided for children from birth until kindergarten entry.
Occupational Therapists have a special interest in:
Self-Care:
- Skills including feeding, dressing, toileting, and personal hygiene.
- The adaptation of equipment or the provision of technical aids which may help to maximize independence, such as wheelchairs, adapted feeding utensils, and weighted blankets.
Productivity:
- Modifying the home and school environments to enable your child's optimum learning potential.
- How a child uses their body to interact with objects and people in their environments.
- The use of arms and hands, how a child plays with blocks, uses scissors and pencils, and other such fine motor activities.
Play:
- Visual and perceptual skills, coordinating vision with movement, and the child's ability to manage the space around themself.
- Sensory integration, and managing incoming sensory information in a useful and productive way that allows for successful engagement with people and the environment.
- Providing behavioural strategies, and promoting cooperative play.
Anybody may refer a child for Occupational Therapy. Once the referral is made, as a first step, the Occupational Therapist may ask you to share your concerns about your child; play with your child; observe your child in everyday situations; complete developmental checklists; use standardized assessments in selected skill areas; and, determine areas of strength and need.
Formal or informal assessment may be done to more clearly define concerns. The specific needs of the child, and the availability of the therapists, will determine the type of service that can be offered. Options can include practical strategies and therapeutic activity suggestions, as consultation only; liaison with preschools, daycares, and other health professionals; diagnostic assessment; weekly, monthly, or, as needed, one-on-one intervention; therapy in home, school, or clinic environments; and, educational workshops.
The Occupational Therapist works with the family so they can make informed decisions regarding occupational therapy goals for their child. If other health professionals or service providers are involved, the Occupational Therapist collaborates with this team to establish a collective approach to achieve progress with identified goals. Services are flexible to the changing needs of the child and his or her family. The Occupational Therapist feels it is important to assist the family in obtaining the skills and confidence needed to encourage their child to progress with their development and independence.
Physical Therapy
Movement allows infants and children an opportunity to explore, learn, express themselves, play, and discover independence. Movement is generated by a combined effort of the body's brain, muscles, nerves, heart, lungs, and bones.
Physical Therapy is the professional health discipline directed towards preventing or alleviating difficulty with movement.
The Physical Therapist will try to identify what makes movement difficult for your child, and help with ways to make movement easier.
Physical Therapists have a special interest in what movements are easy for your child to accomplish, what movements are difficult for your child to achieve, what factors make movement difficult for your child, what activities interest your child, which equipment may assist in making movement easier, and how your child holds his or her head and body, how he or she rolls, sits, crawls, stands, walks, plays on playgrounds, and interacts with children of the same age.
Anybody may refer a child for Physical Therapy. Once the referral is made, the Physical Therapist will contact the family or guardian to schedule an initial consultation. This may occur at the centre, your home, the playground, daycare, or a setting of your choice. It is an opportunity for the therapist and caregiver to share information, for the therapist to observe your child at play, and for the therapist and caregiver to determine together what should happen next.
How often you meet with the Physical Therapist may depend on your family's preference, the type of goal for your child, the health of your child, and the availability of the therapists. It may be important to meet weekly, monthly, several times per year, or as questions and needs arise. In addition, your Physical Therapist may assist with participation in community recreation activities, and with accessing and determining the need for orthotics and specialized equipment.
The Physical Therapist works with the family so they can make informed decisions regarding movement goals for their child. The Physical Therapist may work with the family, caregivers, daycare or preschool personnel, Infant Development Consultants, Supported Child Care Coordinators, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Pathologists, Social Workers, and medical professionals – whoever is helpful, as a team, to assist you and your child in reaching his or her goal. Collectively, goals and appropriate treatment programs can be determined.
Speech and Language Pathology
Communication forms the basis for all social interaction, and is important for community involvement. The Speech and Language Pathologist will help with your child's communication skills, so that he or she can participate as independently as possible.
The Speech and Language Pathologist works with you and other team members – who may include Infant Development Consultants, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Supported Child Care Coordinators, and medical professionals – to set goals, and develop treatment programs which support these goals.
Speech and Language Pathologists have a special interest in what your child understands (receptive language), what your child says (expressive language), how clearly your child can talk (articulation, voice, and fluency), and how your child uses tongue and lips (eating, articulation, and voluntary movements). If your child is unable to speak, the Speech and Language Pathologist will look for other ways for your child to communicate, such as body language, gestures and signs, pictures, computers, or other technology.
Services include intake consultation, monitoring consultation, diagnostic assessment, consultative intervention, therapy, educational intervention, case conferencing, and advocacy.
As a first step, the Speech and Language Pathologist will do an intake consultation. This may include discussing with you your concerns about your child's speech and language abilities, the use of standardized tests and developmental checklists to help determine strengths and needs, and observation of your child during play.
The Speech and Language Pathologist works with the family so they can make informed decisions regarding speech and language goals for their child. Services are flexible, and vary over time as goals and strategies change with your child's progress.
The Speech and Language Pathologist will work with all primary caregivers to explore strategies and techniques that can be used to facilitate speech and language skills within daily routines.
Workshops for parents, community personnel, and other professionals are offered in the evenings to provide ideas, information, and support to help your child learn to communicate.