Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy focuses on helping children to develop skills that will enable them to move towards independence and reach their optimal level in school, home and community environments.

The Occupational Therapists at Yarrabah work closely with the classroom teachers, parents and therapists to develop children’s skills that functionally impact upon learning. In areas covered in group and individual sessions include:

Fine Motor skills

• Development of handedness
• Pre-writing and writing skills
• Coordination
• Bilateral skills (use of both hands simultaneously)

Self Care Skills

• Promote independence in dressing, eating and bathing using simplification techniques, social stories and task sequencing.
• Recommendation of adapted equipment for use in the home and school to promote independence.
• Assisting with funding for adapted equipment via application to funding bodies.

Modifying the environment

• Recommendation of trial equipment to assist with postural stability during classroom work.
• Implementation of compensatory strategies to assist learning.

Sensory Integration

• Developing sensory profiles for students with sensory dysfunction.
• Assisting staff and parents with providing adequate sensory experiences throughout a child’s day. This will ensure they are at their optimum level for learning.