Clinic Based Pediatric Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapists at Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center work with pediatrics in a variety of ways to help the development of fine motor, visual motor and sensory motor skills which is necessary for children to be successful in their play, school performance and other daily activities. Our pediatric OTs offer one on one occupational therapy sessions that are individualized to strengthen your child’s fine, visual, and sensory motor development to help them gain independence.

If your child is experiencing difficulties with any of the skills below, they may benefit from a screening or evaluation to rule out concerns with development. Contact our OT clinic with questions about how occupational therapy can help your child.

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Sensory Processing

Sensory Processing: The ability to organize and interpret information we receive through the senses from our own bodies and the environment. This enables us to produce an appropriate response for particular situations, the task and the environment.

Your child may be experiencing difficulties with sensory processing if you observe the following:

overall attention is a concern
appears to have activity level that is unusually high/low
very sensitive to touch, sounds, or sights
fearful of movement/hesitates to explore playground structures
seems to have a high pain tolerance
requires additional cueing when verbal/visual instructions are given
appears clumsy/accident prone
tires quickly when sitting or participating in fine or gross motor tasks
poor awareness of personal space

Visual Motor Integration

Visual Motor Integration: This allow us to use our eyes and hands in a coordinated manner to perform tasks, such as handwriting, manipulating fasteners and classroom tools and other tasks.

Your child may be experiencing difficulties with visual motor integration if you observe the following:

avoids or rushes through craft and writing activities
difficulty completing craft and writing activities in a timely manner
difficulty holding and manipulating a writing utensil or other classroom tools
appears to tire quickly when participating in craft and writing activities
drawings are not recognizable
illegible handwriting
arms shake or hand fumbles when working with manipulatives
often fumbles when picking up small objects
appears awkward in movements that require using
both sides of the body, poor coordination of right and left
prefers to use one hand alone than both hands
together for two handed tasks
Infrequent crossing middle of body
difficulty with using one side of body to assist the other side, poor dominance
frequent hand switching during writing, drawing or cutting tasks after age 5
struggles with fine motor tasks such as tying shoelaces, drawing a line with a ruler, threading
beads, lacing, using a knife and fork together and cutting

Visual Processing

Visual Processing: The brain's ability to use and interpret visual information from the world around us.

Your child may be experiencing difficulties with visual processing if you observe the following:

covers or closes one eye when reading, rubs eyes,
complains of headaches, eyes burn or tear up
complains of words moving on the page, excessive head movement when reading, tilts the head when reading
Inattentive during or exhausted after reading, writing, drawing tasks
difficulty with shape, letter, number and word recognition
reverses letters and numbers
can respond orally but not in writing
mistakens words with similar beginnings
loses place often when reading, must use finger to keep place, skips lines and words
poor recall of visual material, trouble copying from board or book
trouble learning math facts

Motor Planning

Motor Planning: Skills that allow us to remember and perform steps to make a movement happen. We use motor planning for all physical activities.

Your child may be experiencing difficulties with motor planning if you observe the following:

difficulty imitating new motor movements
performs slowly, or is not able to perform at all, when asked to follow multi-stepped directions
requires longer exposure to a new activity in order to learn it
may initially use trial and error approaches to a task until able to generate a motor plan about how to approach the activity
frequently becomes frustrated with motor tasks
needs extra time to complete motor tasks

Self-Care

Self-Care: These skills are the everyday tasks undertaken so children are ready to participate in life activities (including dressing, eating, cleaning teeth).

Your child may be experiencing difficulties with self care if you observe the following:

Executive Functions

Executive functions: Brain-based skills that allow us to make decisions, plan activities, and stay focused while accomplishing our goals.

Your child may be experiencing difficulties with executive functions if you observe the following:

If your child is exhibiting difficulties in any of these areas, occupational therapy can help. Our therapists offer individual and group occupational therapy sessions. Contact us at (716) 885-8318, ext. 4154 to schedule an evaluation.

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At Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center, we are dedicated to helping you overcome any hearing, speech, communication, or educational need you have. Call us to speak with a Specialist or Write Us A Message.

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(716) 885-8318

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