Remote Occupational Therapy: What it is & how kids can benefit from it

Insights from Linden Occupational Therapist, Ashwini

Remote Occupational Therapy: What it is & how kids can benefit from it?

What is occupational therapy? Occupational therapy is a client-centered health profession concerned with promoting health and well-being through occupation, across the lifespan. Occupational therapists achieve this by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement (WFOT 2012). Occupations are activities that are meaningful and purposeful to an individual. For children of school-going age, occupations include play, self-care, writing, reading, social participation, and other school activities. Occupational therapists have a broad education in the medical, social, behavioral, psychological, psychosocial, and occupational sciences, which equips them with the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to work collaboratively with people, individually or in groups. Occupational therapists can operate either as part of learning support teams, or they can support such teams to assist their students. Schools and parents regularly seek out support services to identify and support a child to achieve their full potential. There may be established diagnoses (ASD, ADHD, Dyspraxia, co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions, Down’s syndrome, etc.) or there may be functional challenges (e.g., anxiety, arm fatigue from inefficient writing patterns, etc.) These difficulties may hinder successful participation in his/her school, home, and community.

What is teletherapy in the context of occupational therapy? Virtual or online care provided by healthcare professionals to clients is also referred to as telehealth. It has evolved both as an alternative - and an adjunct - to in-person care as healthcare professionals sought new innovative approaches to healthcare delivery. International schools in different countries regularly seek support for their students’ learning outcomes from occupational therapists. The trajectory of occupational therapy is different across the globe, an