Solace Celebration: Andrew’s Incredible Progress in Occupational Therapy

A few times a month we are taking the opportunity to showcase the milestones and triumphs accomplished by the amazing kids we work with. Previously, we showed how Melia has been learning to crawl and eat with the help of speech and feeding therapy, and this week we want to highlight Andrew who has been meeting his milestones with the help of occupational therapy!

Andrew’s Direction-Following Wins

Andrew is a 14-year-old male who is minimally verbal. During these sessions, the OT had been working on brushing teeth and utilizing a visual timer while they worked on direction following. He has been working on this for a few months and Andrew did a great job following the directions and even read most of the directions independently! He has shown progress in meeting his milestones at almost every session! He even had the support of his oldest brother during this session to help support him when he needed help!

How Occupational Therapy Supports Independence

The main focus of pediatric occupational therapy is to help children work on the goal of independence. From brushing teeth to selecting an outfit for the day and putting it on, occupational therapy helps to build on the skills needed so the child can confidently do these things on their own. Occupational therapy also helps boost independence by collaborating with families to support their members with meeting milestones and creating environments that allow the child to keep working towards accomplishing these goals in day-to-day life.

The Benefits of Solace’s In-Home Sessions for Occupational Therapy

When a child feels most comfortable, they tend to get the best results, which is one of the most prominent reasons why pediatric in-home therapy is considered beneficial. By having the child learn in an environment where they already feel safe, it allows for less hesitance and gives the opportunity for our therapists to also work with the families to create action plans custom-tailored to the child’s needs that work with the family’s lifestyle.