OT and Activities of Daily Living

In this issue: Activities of Daily Living - Self Care Skills

Did you know: Occupational therapists are experts at teaching children how to perform self care tasks and making daily routines more manageable for the entire family?

Self Care Difficulties: Does your child have difficulty performing daily routines such as dressing, bathing, brushing teeth, meal times, etc? In busy households this can be a source of stress and frustration.  You may find yourself avoiding the task if possible, giving in and completing the task for your child, or frustrated that your child is “not trying”. Imagine the difference if your child could complete these tasks more independently! 

Signs of Difficulty: Frequent reminders required to complete self care tasks, increased time required to complete tasks; refusal to wear specific types of clothing; clothing put on backwards; child does not enjoy bathing or showering; discomfort in washing hair, brushing hair, or brushing teeth; difficulty managing clothing fasteners (buttons, zippers, snaps); unable to tie shoes, inefficient use of spoon, fork, or knife.

Self Care Help: Independence requires a tremendous amount of skill including: fine motor skills, gross motor skills, visual-perceptual skills, visual motor skills, postural control, motor planning skills, sensory processing capabilities, attention, and executive functioning skills. Occupational therapists can evaluate and strengthen the underlying issues that are impacting your child’s ability to perform these tasks easily and independently. 

The Gift of Independence: Supporting your child to build the skills required to achieve independence in daily living skills is an invaluable tool. Independence promotes confidence and leads to an enjoyable daily routine for the whole family.

Teletherapy: We are spending more time at home than ever, so now is the perfect time to address concerns regarding your child’s ability to perform self care skills. Evaluations and therapy sessions can be done via teletherapy. Use this time to help your child develop the self care skills he or she needs to gain the independence needed to perform activities of daily living successfully and confidently. 

If your child would benefit from help increasing independence in activities of daily living, you can call the Pediatric Development Center to set up a teletherapy evaluation:  301-869-7505.