Let’s
think about the word "occupation." To many of us, occupation is what we do,
maybe from about 9;00 a.m. to 5;00 p.m. on weekdays. It’s our job, our
profession ―the role we take on to get a salary.
Yes,
it’s that, but so much more. In the world of occupational therapy, our
occupations are what we do from the moment we wake up in the morning to the
moment we go to sleep at night. As per the Canadian Association of Occupational
Therapists (CAOT), occupation is defined as “everything that people do during
the course of everyday life […] that is essential to our health and
well-being.” Essentially, the notion of occupation is used to describe who you
are and how you feel about yourself.
So
what are a child’s occupations? There are lots. On a daily basis, children take
on the roles of students, playmates, teammates, mini-superheroes, princesses,
and maybe fish-bowl cleaners. It is important to consider, however, that
children must learn how to play these roles. And learning is precisely the
primary activity they do every single day (not to say that learning ceases to a
halt once they reach adulthood!). Of course, a huge part of development and
learning happens at home from their first teachers ―their parents, family
members and loved ones. As of the age of four or five, however, a large part of
learning is shifted to one of the most important and memorable places in a
child’s life; at school.
If
we take a moment to think about the types of activities children do at school,
the list can be quite lengthy; reading, writing, language arts, math, arts and
crafts, physical education and team sports, projects, school plays, and so on.
But first, in order to participate in these activities, they must learn to sit
still, listen, look at the teacher or board, hold a pencil, wait their turn, raise
their hand, follow the routine, organize their belongings, socialize with their
peers and teachers, and be able to regulate their own behavior throughout the
school day. Phew! That’s a lot of work for these kids! This is just to
illustrate a few examples of the foundation skills underlying school
performance.
For
many students, acquiring these foundation skills occur naturally. However, in
some instances, learning them can be a problem and therefore, hinder a
student’s achievement in school. Children with special needs may present with
difficulties among these areas. As all
children have the right to education without discrimination, it is crucial that
school staff and in-school health practitioners collaborate to optimize the
learning environment for these students in order to promote their success.
These teams can comprise of parents, teachers, principals, school support
staff, school nurses, social workers, school psychologists, speech and language
pathologists, and – more often now than before – occupational therapists (OT).
The
main goal of the school-based OT is to maximize the student’s occupational performance
in day-to-day activities that are necessary to function in school. This applies
to all students, with or without special needs and no matter how large or small
the need. That being said, occupational therapists can be found working in
either special education schools or within inclusive education settings, to
serve the needs of all students.
A
child’s occupational performance may be challenged by physical, developmental,
sensory and/or learning difficulties. Some of the skills commonly addressed in
occupational therapy can include fine motor skills (use of hands to write,
color, cut), gross motor skills (use of bigger muscles to run, jump, skip,
balance), sensory processing skills (the way a child processes information from
the senses and interprets it), visual motor and visual perceptual skills, self-care/autonomy
skills, and cognitive skills. The school-based OT can intervene either directly
by working with the student in his/her environment, or indirectly via
collaborative consultation with teachers and/or parents in order to help the
student improve or maintain his/her functional skills needed for learning. The
OT will also examine a student’s environment and help identify the barriers or
facilitators in order to match the student’s abilities with the school tasks to
create the “just-right” challenge. The OT can help in modifying or adapting a
task so that the child can take part in the learning activity. For example, a
student who is having difficulty with printing may be referred for OT services.
The therapist may assess the student’s skills, the environment and the task to
determine where the difficulties stem from. Possible interventions may include
adjusting the ergonomics to improve posture, provide a pencil grip to improve
the grasp, recommend a home program to strengthen fine motor skills, teach
printing tricks to remember how to form letters, or recommend assistive
technology, depending on the student’s grade and skill level. This is just one
of the many examples an OT can be involved. By analyzing the student’s
strengths and limitations, the environment, and the task (or student’s
occupation), occupational therapy can contribute in providing students of all
abilities a nurturing environment so they can develop and flourish in order to
reach their full potential.
School-based
occupational therapy is becoming more widespread. With this growth, there is
hope the roles of school OTs will continue to broaden to help children fulfill
their occupational roles as students. So, when your son or daughter comes home
from school, you can ask something along the lines of “How was work today?”
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