OT Arts

Each session lasts 50 minutes. The length of treatment is based on areas of weakness and goals written. At OT Arts, most goals are written for six months. At that time, the family and occupational therapist review the goals to determine if they have been met and decide together to terminate treatment or write new goals.

Under-responsiveness means that our nervous systems are sluggish and need to be woken up. Fast, erratic, rotary input (such as spinning on a single axis) increases alertness in most children.

Over-responsiveness or over-arousal means that our nervous systems are stressed and need to be calmed down. Slow, linear (such as swinging back and forth in a straight line), rhythmic input is calming to most children.

Our bodies need to be alert but not overactive for us to sit and pay attention in order to learn new ideas. Finding this balance is a challenge we all face.

Self-regulation is the ability to maintain one’s body at an optimal level of alertness appropriate to a given activity and environment.

Motor planning is a component of praxis although the terms are often used interchangeably. Praxis consists of ideation (coming up with an idea of what one wants to do), motor planning (organizing one’s body to complete a sequence of movements), and execution (physically carrying out the motor act). A child with motor planning difficulties often appears clumsy or uncoordinated, particularly during novel or new tasks.

Child-directed activity looks like the child is simply playing. In actuality, the therapist sets up the environment and structures, directs or expands the child’s play while tapping into the inner drive necessary for the organization of the nervous system.

An adaptive response is a purposeful, goal-directed response to a sensory experience.

Sensory processing refers to how we make sense of the sensory information coming into our bodies and make a response that fits in with our environment.

Sensory integration is a specialized neurological treatment approach that helps children’s brains better make sense of the information that they receive through their senses in order to respond to the demands of the environment more appropriately and successfully.

Occupational therapy is a profession that helps people participate fully in their daily activities (occupations). For children, an occupational therapist may help with activities that require fine motor, self-help, motor planning, self-regulation or attention skills, including writing, self-feeding, and fastening clothing (to learn more, click here: http://www.aota.org/About-Occupational-Therapy/Patients-Clients/ChildrenAndYouth.aspx).