What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy (OT) helps individuals of all ages—including infants, toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults—develop essential skills needed for daily life. By engaging in meaningful activities, known as occupations, OT enables individuals to participate fully in their roles, routines, and environments, whether at home, school, work, or within the community.
Occupational therapists (OTs) focus on promoting independence in key areas of daily living, including:
• Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) – Basic self-care tasks such as dressing, eating, bathing, toileting, and moving safely from one place to another.
• Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) – More complex tasks like caring for others or pets, managing finances, and household responsibilities.
• Play & Leisure – Encouraging engagement in recreational activities that promote physical, cognitive, and social development.
• Sleep & Rest – Supporting healthy sleep routines essential for well-being.
• Education & Work – Enhancing skills for learning, productivity, and workplace success.
• Social Participation – Developing the abilities needed for building relationships and engaging in social activities.
By addressing these areas, occupational therapy empowers individuals to maximize their independence and improve their quality of life.
Some of the areas that occupational therapy specializes in are:
- Fine Motor/Bilateral Coordination Skills
- Gross Motor Skills
- Activities of Daily Living (ADL)/Self Care Skills
- Executive Function/Attention Skills
- Social/Pragmatic Skills
- Handwriting Skills
- Visual Motor/Visual Perceptual Skills
- Sensory Integration/Motor Planning
- Self Regulation Skills
- Cognitive Skills
- Play Skills
Some of the benefits of occupational therapy include:
- Improvement in fine motor skills
- Improvement in feeding, dressing, and hygiene skills
- Improvement in visual motor/ perceptual skills
- Regulation of arousal levels for participation in functional activities
- Increased socialization, organizational skills, and self confidence
- Development of a sensory diet
- Improvement in sensory processing
Who can Occupational Therapists work with?
Children that may benefit from occupational therapy have may or may not have the following diagnoses that would include, but are not limited to:
- Handwriting difficulties
- Sensory Integrative Dysfunction
- ADD/ADHD
- Autism Spectrum Disorder/Asperger’s
- Cerebral Palsy
- Fine motor delays
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Down Syndrome
- Spinal cord injuries
- Handwriting difficulties
- Sensory Integrative Dysfunction
- ADD/ADHD
- Autism Spectrum Disorder/Asperger’s
- Cerebral Palsy
- Fine motor delays
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Down Syndrome
- Spinal cord injuries
- Hypotonia
- Brachial Plexus injury
- Coordination difficulties
- Congenital abnormalities
- Limited independence with self care skills
- Genetic disorders
- Traumatic brain injury
- Developmental delay
- Handwriting difficulties
- Sensory Integrative Dysfunction
- ADD/ADHD
- Autism Spectrum Disorder/Asperger’s
- Cerebral Palsy
- Fine motor delays
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Down Syndrome
- Spinal cord injuries
Contact Us
If you have any questions about speech therapy in Miami or Doral, Florida or would like to book an appointment for speech therapy, please call Exceptional Speech Therapy at 786.717.5649 or fill out the form below.
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