Symptoms of Developmental Challenges

You should consider contacting an occupational therapist when your child (>4 years) exhibits any of the following symptoms:

• Struggles with tracing or copying basic shapes and letters, handwriting, drawing, colouring or scissoring etc.
• Has an awkward pencil grasp which reduces the quality of his graphic output (e.g. a jerky line).
• Puts extra effort into fine motor performance (e.g., moving his trunk or lifting his shoulder).
• Keeps switching hands while colouring and writing and hasn’t yet established a dominant hand.
• Struggles with learning self-help skills such as dressing efficiently and independently.
• Has poor posture while sitting, or appears “floppy” and weak and gets tired easily
• Lacks organizational skills, tends to be forgetful, finds it hard to follow a set of tasks or instructions, is slow and inefficient in their performance or becomes easily distracted.
• Has low self-confidence and self-esteem, becomes easily frustrated and tends to avoid tasks that require motor skills.

Is Early OT Intervention Right for my Child?

It is never easy for a parent to accept that their beloved child has challenges or struggles in life. Moreover, in today's fast-paced and busy life it is seldom easy to find the time, energy or even financial means to take a child to therapy of any kind.

However, like many circumstances in life, addressing issues early on prevents them from growing into problems that are even harder to manage. Early intervention can be instrumental in preventing the secondary complications and longer-term effects of a mild developmental delay, such as learning difficulties, executive functioning challenges, written output disorder, and emotional, social or behavioural problems.

Other reasons to support early intervention are: 

• Child development research has established that during preschool and early school years, the rate of human learning and development is the most rapid, meaning that if a developmental gap is identified during this period, time is of the essence. 
• Years of research show evidence, both quantitatively (data-based) and qualitatively (reports of parents and teachers) that early intervention increases the developmental and educational gains for the child. 
• Though private occupational therapy services are not cheap, investing in therapy for your child in their early years will save you money in the long run. Early intervention has been proven to be highly cost-effective in the long term.

Not sure yet? Call us for a free phone consultation.