What is Occupational Therapy? Despite the core word "occupation," it's not about finding jobs for children! A child's primary "job" or "occupation" is to play. Through play, children develop motor coordination, social skills, emotional regulation, as well as learn how to process all of the sensory input in their environment.

 Occupational therapists evaluate children in four primary areas to determine a delay or difficulty in skills: cognitive or our thinking processes (cause/effect, problem-solving, reasoning), sensory processing, behavioral development and motor skills.

In the area of motor skills, OT's look at fine and gross motor skills, coordination of the right and left sides of the body, and general movement patterns.

Babies begin developing their motor skills from the center of their body outward toward their fingers and toes. What this means, is that their head and trunk develop first. This allows for the baby to lift its head against gravity and sit without support before they are able to perform more advanced skills such as walking or manipulating objects with their hands.

Strength and stability in our trunk, or core, is vital to all our daily activities, whether it be sitting, crawling, walking, or simply just breathing. If a child does not have the muscle strength to sit independently or to maintain an upright posture in a chair, then fine motor skills such as reaching, grasping, manipulating objects, using utensils, and handwriting will be very difficult.