Signs Your Child May Need Occupational Therapy
It can be challenging to know whether your child will benefit from occupational therapy. Developmental milestones are things children should do by a certain age. Skills such as crawling, walking, and communicating are examples of developmental milestones. Developmental milestones help you know where your child is at developmentally. Even though guidelines outline when you should reach certain milestones, every child is different and may be a little off-track or even skip a milestone. Developmental milestones are categorized into five domains:
- Fine Motor. The coordination of small muscle movements in hands and fingers.
- Gross Motor. Requires whole body movement and large muscles in the body.
- Language. Developing language to effectively communicate (expressive language) and understand (receptive language) oral language in a different environments and purposes.
- Cognitive. How the brain develops. It includes skills such as thinking, learning, exploring and problem solving.
- Social-Emotional. Children’s ability to develop positive relationships and regulate their emotions and behavior.
Fine Motor Signs
- Avoiding fine motor tasks such as cutting and writing
- Difficulty manipulating eating utensils
- Struggling with zippers, buttons, and shoelaces
Gross Motor Signs
- Trouble balancing
- Poor ball handling skills
- Issues coordinating both sides of the body
- Fearful of feet leaving the ground
- Not crossing midline (line down the middle of the body)
Oral Motor Signs
- Excessive chewing on clothes and/or objects
- Drooling
- Limited food intake due to texture
Social and Emotional Signs
- Problems engaging and interacting with peers
- Trouble adapting to new situations and environments
- Short attention span
- Refusing to play with others
- Overly active
- Constantly moving
- Fidgeting
Cognitive Signs
- Executive function difficulties
- Short term memory impairment
- Motor planning problems
- Issues with problem solving
- Emotional regulation and interception
- Organization difficulties
- Working memory deficits
Early intervention is fundamental to successful remediation of delays. The earlier you seek treatment the better the outcome. If your child shows signs of developmental delays, our team at Mindful Child is here to help. Complete a intake using the button below and we will contact you to set up an occupational therapy assessment.
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