Occupational Therapy • Child Development
How can I help?
These are the main areas where I meet children and parents, each one approached through the skills that sit behind it.
Starting school requires far more than knowing letters and numbers. Readiness also includes being able to sit and stay with a task, follow simple and multi-step instructions, organise and use equipment efficiently, plan and monitor one's own performance, and participate in class independently.
- Staying with a task over time and working efficiently
- Self-organisation and transitions between activities
- Comfortable use of writing tools
- Independence in the classroom environment
Handwriting is not just holding a pencil. Several developmental abilities work together behind it — which is why it matters to understand which one is creating the difficulty.
- The child avoids drawing or writing
- Handwriting is slow or tiring, and work in the notebook is disorganised
- The pencil grip looks uncomfortable
- Handwriting that is hard to read
Fine motor skills let a child use their hands precisely and efficiently — cutting, colouring, building and everyday self-care.
- Hand control and stability
- Precision in cutting, colouring and gluing
- Coordinating both hands together
- Independence with buttons, laces and fastenings
Movement and play are core developmental activities. Through them children build coordination, attention, confidence, social skills and independence — which is why they are a professional part of the work, not a break from it.
- Coordination and motor planning
- Confidence in physical settings
- Taking part in play with other children
- Independence in everyday activities
Learning to read draws on language, attention, memory and visual processing. Remedial work addresses that foundation alongside the reading practice itself.
- Decoding and reading fluency
- Visually tracking the line and the text
- Linking letter, sound and word
- Confidence and willingness to engage with text
Some children understand the material well but struggle with the process of learning itself. The work focuses on building ways of working the child can use independently.
- Working memory and following instructions
- An efficient approach to multi-step tasks
- Keeping order and organisation
- Working independently over time
- Strengthening self-monitoring and impulse control
Not sure exactly what your child needs? You can start with a conversation.
You don't need to diagnose the difficulty yourself. You can simply describe what you're seeing, and we'll start from a shared understanding of whether an occupational therapy assessment or treatment is appropriate.