About Occupational Therapy : Occupational Therapy, often abbreviated OT, is use of treatment to DEVELOP, RECOVER, or MAINTAIN the living skills of people with physical, mental or developmental conditions.

Paediatric Occupational Therapy :

Occupational Therapist understand that school, play and self care are the "OCCUPATIONS" of childhood. We are dedicated to helping children participate to their fullest potential.

Paediatric Occupational Therapy is a child centered profession that addresses challenges in sensory, motor, academic and socio-economical development that impact meaningful engagement and participation in everyday activities within a plaful context. We provide services for children and adolscents with variety of diagnosis including Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Defecit/Hyperactivity(ADHD), Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Down's Syndrome, Cri-du-chat syndrome, William Syndrome, Learning Disability (LD), Fragile x syndrome, Dyslexia, as well as many other developmental delays. Handwriting management, fine motor skills, low confidence are some of school based area for occupational therapist.

Sensory processing (sometimes called "sensory integration" or SI) is a term that refrers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses (eyes, hearing, touch, smell, taste, movement, pressure) and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioural repsponses. Whether you are biting into a hamburger, riding a bicycle, or reading a book, your succesful completion of the activity requires processing sensation or "sensory integration".

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, formerly known as "sensory integration dysfunction") is a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. Pioneering occupational therapist and neuroscientist. Jean Ayres, PhD, likened SPD to a neurological "traffic jam" that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information correctly. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioural probles, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively.

It is also seen in children diagnoised with Autism , DHD, Learning Disability, Developmentally Delayed, Cerebral Palsy, and other genetic condition like Down Syndrome, Cri-du-chat syndrome, Willium syndrome.

How Sensory Processing Disorder is treated:

Most children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) are just as intelligent as their peers. Many are intelectually gifted. Their brains are simply wired differently. They need to be taught in awys that are adpted to how they process information, and they need leisure activities that suit their own sensory processing needs.

Once children with Sensory Processing Disorder have been accurately diagnosed, they benefit from a treatment program of occupational therapy (OT) with sensory integration (SI) approach. When appropriate and applied by a well-trained clinician, listening therapy 9such as Integrated Listening Systems) or other complementary therapies may be combined effectively with OT-SI.

Occupational therapy with a sensory integration approach typically takes place in a sensory-rich environment sometimes called the "OT gym". During OT sessions, the therapist guides the child through fun activities that are subtly structured so the child is constantly challenged but always successful.

The goal of Occupational Therapy is to foster appropriate responses to sensation in an active, meaningful, and fun way so the child is able to behave in a more functional manner. Over time, the appropriate responses generalize to the environment beyond the clinic including home, school, and the larger community.

The DIR (Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based Model) is a developmental model for assessing and treating any child's strengths and weaknesses. It has become particularly effective at identifying the unique developmental profiles and developing programs for children experiencing deveplopmental delays due to Autism, Aspergers Syndrome or other Developmental Disorder.

Floortime is a developmental intervention involving meeting a child at his or her current developmental level, and challenging them to move up the heirarchy of milestones outlined in the DIR Model. Floortime is child-focussed-the parent or therapist follows the child's lead, with playful positive attention while tuning into child's interests. Once the child conects with adult specific techniques are used to challenges and entice the child to move up the developmental ladder.