OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Occupational Therapists at Flying Start Children’s Therapy aim to improve the quality of life of your child by helping them to participate and engage in everyday activities. They also work to provide individualised tips and strategies for children at home, in the community and in the classroom, to increase their participation and independence.
Occupational Therapists view “occupation” as any purposeful and meaningful activity that a child would engage in and look at making the learning environment for children more stimulating and accessible to promote participation.
When children experience difficulties developing these skills, an Occupational Therapist may become involved to assist in their skill development. This is often achieved by breaking down the task into smaller steps, discovering if there is an underlying issue and providing additional support to ensure children can reach their full potential.
Areas of development that an occupational therapist can assist children in the following areas:
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Fine and Gross Motor Skills
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Emotional and Social Development
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Sensory Processing Difficulties
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Self Care Skills Independence (Toileting, dressing, mealtime etc)
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Attention and Concentration
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Play Skills and playing with peers
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Handwriting
Our skilled Occupational Therapists are also able to provide children with physical difficulties with assessment and prescription of additional supports to ensure they can complete daily activities safely and comfortably.
These include:
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Vehicle Modifications
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Home Modifications
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Environmental Access Assessments
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Seating and Wheelchair prescription
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Self Care Equipment (showering and toileting, classroom seating, mealtime and play seating, beds and mattresses)
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Manual Handling and Transfer Equipment
Occupational Therapists at Flying Start Children's Therapy work with children of all ages and are flexible in the environments in which we work in order to best meet the needs of the child and their family.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSESSMENTS
Our Occupational Therapy team can complete assessments for the following areas, while you are waiting for service or as a one-off assessment:
Activities of Daily Living
Functional Capacity Assessments (sometimes called functional assessments). We assess functional capacity to provide evidence of your disability and demonstrate your support needs for your next funding review or to request a change in circumstances.
School Leavers Employment Supports (SLES)
We offer assessments to assist in making the transition from school to employment as smooth as possible for young people with a disability and prepare them for the workforce.
Motor assessments
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Fine and gross motor
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Handwriting
Sensory assessments
Sensory processing and integration
Developmental Assessments (to measure a child's progress is in regard to developmental milestones)
If you would like an assessment by one of our Occupational Therapists, either while you are waiting for service or as a one off assessment, please complete our OT assessment form via the button below.