Occupational Therapy is a service that helps people achieve independence in their daily life activities or "Occupations". These activities are the basic tasks of everyday life, and they include tasks such as eating, bathing, clothing, and toileting. For most children, these tasks are learned relatively easily and become a part of a daily routine. For children with special needs, these tasks might be more difficult and might require constant reminding or rewards for completing the activities of daily living.
Occupational Therapists work extensively for special needs children to improve their ADL(Activities of Daily Living).
Occupational Therapists help children with special needs to become physically, psychologically, and socially independent by working towards specific goals. For special needs children who have difficulty brushing their teeth, an occupational therapist might teach steps towards achieving this goal. These steps might be broken down into very small pieces, such as reaching out their hands, touching the toothbrush, grasping the toothbrush, picking up the brush, and so forth.
The comprehensive assessment is recommended for children. The assessment utilizes various standardized tests, clinical observations, and a detailed parent interview and questionnaire.
A child's Occupational performance is play, therefore OT treatment is play-based.