Taking in and processing the information around us includes not just the five senses we are most familiar with (sight, touch, smell, hearing and tasting) but also proprioception, knowing where your body is in space, vestibular, the ability to process movement and interoception, which is the inner awareness of body functions. When a child has difficulty with processing sensations everyday tasks can become overwhelming. By customizing a “sensory diet” of play activities that can be performed in your home on a daily basis, you can help your child overcome these challenges.

From picky eating to challenges with bottle feeding, weaning or moving beyond one stage of foods our child’s ability to feed themselves is of utmost importance. When a child is unable to chew and swallow foods effectively or has a limited diet, assessing oral motor skills as well as addressing sensory sensitivities will help determine which skills need to be improved in order to become a successful eater.

As our children grow, helping them become independent in taking care of themselves is our duty. When you hit a bump in the road with bathing, toileting, dressing, brushing teeth, and eventually doing school work, handwriting or managing their time and completing chores, occupational therapy has a variety of strategies to help determine underlying issues creating the challenge as well as strategies you can implement right away to help your child flourish.

Due to Covid-19 and the need to maintain the safety of our families, Dynamic OT has begun to offer evaluations and and treatment sessions via a secure HIPPA compliant telehealth platform. In providing these sessions we have had great success via combining a coaching model of service delivery with demonstrations and feedback as well as guided practice of interventions for parents.