How Occupational Therapy can Benefit the School Environment
While fostering motor skills is an important part of our practice, OTs also support a diverse range of developmental skills that impact on a child’s learning and overall wellbeing e.g their behaviour, their sensory needs and their social skills.
A huge part of our role also lies in empowering educators, equipping them with insights and strategies to effectively engage with students to support their development.
Here are some key areas where an OTs support intersects with the fabric of school dynamics:
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Educational Empowerment: Providing comprehensive guidance on referrals, diagnoses, report interpretation, goal formulation, and identifying supplementary requirements.
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Coaching and Collaboration: Engaging with staff to cultivate holistic approaches, devising classroom strategies, and tailoring interventions to suit individual student needs encompassing behaviour management, emotional regulation, sensory processing, attention, fine and gross motor skills (including handwriting), self-care proficiency, and fostering independence.
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Environmental Design: Offering insights into designing conducive learning environments, recommending suitable equipment and toys, and conceptualising specialised groups focusing on motor, sensory, or emotional regulation enhancement.
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Family Engagement: Through platforms like Gabadoo, we liaise with parents, advocating for the child’s needs within their natural environments, thereby fostering cohesive goal setting and implementation.
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Strengths-Based Approach: We use this approach not only to support students, but also in building educators confidence around their own ability to manage diverse and difficult situations that may arise.
To learn more about Gabadoo, you can book a free call https://meet.brevo.com/gabadoo/gabadoo-introduction