School Visits
As well as home and clinic visits, Manchester OT also provides occupational therapy assessment and treatment to children within the school environment.
A number of school performance areas are dependent on a child’s gross motor, fine motor and visual perceptual skills. An occupational therapist is able to assess these areas and observe how a child is functioning within the school environment, and whether they have any therapy needs that need addressing.
Reasons for a school visit
Occupational therapists are concerned with ensuring an understanding of and a match between a child’s skills and abilities in every environment.
Depending on the reason for the visit, an occupational therapist may look at the child’s:
- Seating position/posture
- Handwriting
- Motor coordination
- Visual-motor coordination
- Visual-perceptual skills
- Manipulation of tools
- Overall school performance
- Playground safety
An Occupational Therapist is able to provide direct intervention to improve, restore, maintain or prevent deterioration in the skills required for functioning in the school environment. A school visit also allows parents and teachers to work collaboratively with the occupational therapist to ensure realistic goals are set and achieved.
Benefits to child
There is a lot of evidence to support the effectiveness of occupational therapy input in the school environment. Not only does occupational therapy input in schools benefit teachers and parents but also the child. Some of the benefits to the child include:
- Improved functional performance
- Improved in-hand manipulation
- Improved position in space
- Improved handwriting legibility
- Increased confidence
- Increased self esteem
- Overall school performance
- Playground safety
Occupational therapy treatment and advice following a school visit
Following a school visit, an occupational therapist would make recommendations about possible task adaptions, task modifications, and/or assistive devices which may be necessary to optimize the child’s performance within the school setting. An occupational therapist can also provide a tailored therapy programme with activities to develop a child’s motor coordination, visual-motor coordination and/or visual perceptual skills.
Treatment plans would be made collaboratively with the child, their parents/carers and any teaching staff to ensure the intervention is effective.
If your child has an Individualised Education Plan (IEP), an occupational therapist can also collaborate with their teacher and/or the SENCO to ensure the goals identified in the IEP are attainable.
How do I know if my child is suitable for an occupational therapy school visit?
If your child is disorganised, forgetful and frequently loses things, they may benefit from occupational therapy input within the school environment to ensure it is not impacting on their performance in lessons.
If you or your childs teacher have any concerns regarding your childs performance in school and think that an occupational therapist may be able to help, please contact us on 0161 883 0088 to see how we can help.
How do I arrange a school visit?
If you would like to make an appointment, or for more information, please contact one of our experienced occupational therapists at office@manchesterot.co.uk or call us on 0161 883 0088