Waltham Forest Children’s Occupational Therapy Service
The children’s occupational therapy service helps children with disabilities participate as fully as possible in their everyday activities. Occupational therapists focus on the abilities needed for school, play and self care skills such as; holding pencils, feeding themselves or using a scooter. The occupational therapy service provides assessment, advice and therapy to develop a child’s daily life skills. The team support children with a range of conditions through assessment advice and therapy. They see children at school, home and in community settings. The service also provides a monthly hand splinting clinic for those aged 0-19 years.
What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy enables children and young (CYP) people to take part in daily life to improve their health and well-being. Daily life is made up of many activities (or occupations).
For children or young people, this may include:
• self-care (getting ready to go out, eating a meal, using the toilet)
• being productive (going to nursery or school, playing, volunteering, doing chores)
• leisure (socialising, playing, or doing hobbies)
Occupational therapists assess and advise on how environments, relationships, and parts of a task (e.g. throwing a big or a small ball) influence the child or young person’s ability to participate in daily life activities. Occupational therapy aims to promote the child or young person’s ability to do the activities that are important to them and their families. This promotes health and well-being. It also helps the child or young person feel like a valued member of their community, regardless of physical, learning, and mental health needs.
Who Occupational Therapy can help?
We see children and young people with various difficulties or conditions. These include developmental delay and /or neuro-motor conditions such as Cerebral Palsy; Autism Spectrum Syndromes and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder or difficulties.
Our Occupational Therapy (OT) team is split into 2 main teams and then has several different pathways in each:
The Social Services OT team covers home equipment and adaptations.
The Health OT team covers therapy and hand splinting.
Both teams work together to provide and review specialist postural support seating. Occupational Therapy covers a broad range of intervention, which means you may need to see more than one Occupational Therapist at the same time.
Some children may experience sensory differences due to their disability. They may find it hard to process, and act upon, information received through their senses. This can create challenges in everyday tasks. Children with different disabilities may experience different challenges in everyday tasks.
We can support children and young people to manage the impact of these challenges on their daily experiences.
Here are some of the things our OTs do:
• Assess the needs of the child, their carers, and their home so they can advise on the most appropriate way of helping everyone.
• Advise schools on the most appropriate equipment and adaptations needed for a child in school.
• Provide advice to school and parents on ways of supporting the child or young person in specific tasks.
• Recommend the loan of specialised equipment or adaptations to the home of children with physical disabilities, e.g. grab rails beside the toilet to help with their independence. Carers may need to be loaned specialised equipment to move their children safely or to help them have a bath or sit comfortably.
• Recommend changing the environment for those who are not independent in their toileting or give advise on how their skills can be developed.
Occupational Therapists may:
• Support the child and family in problem-solving and developing strategies for children to help them manage their own needs.
• Recommend changing the task the child is attempting.
• Support the child in developing skills if appropriate.
All of the above may be needed if a child has sensory differences that affect their function.