Occupational Therapy

Certified Occupational Therapists will work in conjunction with the child’s therapy team implementing and monitoring gross motor, fine motor, visual motor, self help and sensory motor goals set out in the indi-vidual education plan. Therapy may include school based or center based services. Therapy may con-sist of one-on-one therapy, OT groups or co-treatment with Speech and Language Pathologist, Physical Therapist or Developmental Educator dependent on the child’s needs. Following the individual assess-ment, the child’s goals shall be formulated and intervention shall be implemented through individual ses-sions. Therapy shall play a vital role in making each child independent in the following areas:

- Self-Help Skills
- Gross Motor Skills
- Visual Motor Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
- Sensory Integration Skills
- Pre-vocational Skills

Sensory Integration
Sensory integration therapy is one way of helping children. It does not work for all children but for those it does, changes begin to happen quickly. Children are generally seen once a week for 2 to 4 school terms. Some improvements are usually seen within the first 6 weeks, but it needs long term in-put at home, school and at the center to allow a child's nervous system to develop. Sensory integra-tion therapy aims at improving the way a child's brain responds to and makes use of sensory information and how this is used to plan, co-ordinate and organize movement. It also has a positive effect on self-confidence and self-esteem. Sensory integration therapy uses enhanced sensory in-put combined with planned motor out-put through which a child experiences success. The emphasis is non-cognitive which means that we work with the child's reactions rather than practice specific skills. Sensory integration does not “teach” a child new skills, nor does it directly supply experience or practice in those areas of development that are causing concern. It involves the active participation of a child (and therapist) in a way that facilitates interaction with the play environment.

Playhouse
Playhouse is a 90-minute class run by the CEIMC Senior Occupational Therapist. It is designed for children to have FUN while at the same time learning and improving their Sensory Motor skills. The chil-dren work on multiple skills, including sensory, self help, gross/fine motor, social/emotional, cognitive, language and oral motor skills. While the sensory and motor skills are the foundation of each lesson, cognitive, language, oral motor and social/emotional skills are woven into the activities for a more com-plete whole. Each group session is organized in a sensory integrative developmental sequence consisting of seven activities that all relate to the selected theme.

OT Assessment and Evaluation
CEIMC takes pride in ensuring your child’s evaluation utilizes the most-up-to-date and valid assessment materials. Our occupational therapy assessment is outlined below and includes:

- Case history;
- One hour of standardized testing (including related checklists, parent questionnaire); and
- Two hours for scoring test(s), analyzing data, and typing up the formal assessment report and goals. Any additional time required to complete the child’s assessment will be invoiced at an hourly rate.

Before the initial consultation, a case history form will be sent either via email or courier. This form should be completed in its entirety before the first assessment visit. The case history provides the clinician with relevant background and medical history, which may provide possible reasons or contributing factors for the child’s motor difficulties. It also helps the clinician to determine what further questions need to be ad-dressed in making a differential diagnosis.

If the case history form is not returned or is incomplete prior to the assessment session, the clinician will need to gather the case history information during the initial consultation. It is important to note that when parents fail to complete the case history form, it often results in scheduling an additional session in order to complete testing.

Once the case history form is completed and reviewed by the clinician, standardized testing will be per-formed along with observations and possible checklists related to the area(s) being assessed. The purpose for administering standardized assessments is to make com-parisons of your child’s motor development to those of his/her age-matched peers. Furthermore, it aids the clini-cian in determining if a delay or disorder exists. We rec-ommend for your child to be tested alone with the clini-cian as this is a standardized assessment. If testing is un-able to be completed without the parent’s assistance, the clinician will ask for one parent to come into the assess-ment room. If testing is unable to be completed in a sin-gle one-hour session, regardless of the reason, additional assessment sessions will need to be scheduled until testing is finished.

Once testing and observations are completed, the clinician will develop a comprehensive written assessment report. The assessment report provides a thorough analysis and interpretation of the assessment results. The report is considered a medical record and provides parents and other professionals, who may be work-ing with your child, information regarding the child’s strengths and weaknesses in the areas of fine motor, gross motor, visual motor, sensory motor and self help skills. Furthermore, additional referrals or pertinent information in fostering the child’s motor development may be noted. Lastly, it will indicate whether Occu-pational therapy is warranted, the recommended frequency and duration of treatment, and the initial treat-ment goals/objectives; which were developed based on the assessment results.

After the initial assessment process is completed, a half-hour parent meeting will be scheduled to review and discuss your child’s assessment results.

Feeding Clinic
Our Feeding Clinic provides multidisciplinary specialized clinical services to address feeding difficulties as a result of a variety of challenges including: fussy eating, sensory sensitivities, restricted diets, medical issues and behavioral difficulties. Clinicians will also work to develop oral motor skills and self feeding skills as needed.

Vision Therapy Services
Child Early Intervention Medical Center Occupational Therapy department runs a specialized vision therapy program supervised by an optometrist specializing in vision rehabilitation. Vision therapy may be required if your child participates in visual self stimulatory behaviors and/or has difficulty with moving both eyes in unison, focusing, depth perception and visual perception skills.

Vision Therapy Assessment and Evaluation
In order for a vision therapy assessment, a child health history form and medical eye history form must be completed. An appointment can then be scheduled with the specializing optometrist when he/she is at CEIMC. The consultation will evaluate eye teaming, eye focusing, visual suppressions, depth perception, visual attention, eye health, refractive conditions, binocular visual skills, all occul-motor skills, and visual stimming. A treatment protocol and recommendations will then be provided if your child needs vision therapy.

The type of treatment protocol after the evaluation can be the following:
- Treatment glasses with or without prisms
- Vision therapy administrated by a qualified OT and guided by a vision rehabilitation specialist
- Additional supplements
- Astronaut therapy administrated by a qualified OT
- Computer based therapy via Internet and/or OT guided by a vision rehabilitation specialist
- A combination of all of the above (which is usually the case)

Vision therapy will be conducted by a qualified Occupational Therapist. Vision therapy sessions will be conducted over a 30 minute period at the center. Sessions will consist of a vestibular warm up activity followed by specific vision exercises based on your child’s vision assessment.

When a child enrolls in vision therapy, it is critical that our Occupational Therapist documents and informs parents of the child’s progress in therapy. A progress report will be completed on a monthly basis. Your child’s progress report will be reviewed by the supervising specialist. Progress notes taken during your child’s vision therapy session are also considered part of your child’s medical re-cord. As such, medical records must be reviewed to document and assess the need for change or effectiveness of the program. Children who are receiving vision therapy require a re-assessment every six months to monitor progress and update treatment protocols.