There has always been a ‘hush hush’ in our society when it comes to seeking help, thanks to all the taboos revolving around the word THERAPY. But imagine having someone walking by your side, who identifies your struggle and helps you take your story back in your hands. That ‘someone’ may not always be a psychiatrist or a physiotherapist. What about an Occupational Therapist?
What exactly is OT and what exactly do occupational therapists do? Imagine you are facing issues while conducting your activities of daily living. This could involve a newborn in the NICU, toddler, preschoolers, school-going children, teenagers, adults, to the geriatric population. OTs can help in all fields of life of an individual. In fact, Occupational Therapy truly means helping an individual in their mission of independent living. It’s fascinating to know how an Occupational Therapist can play one of the key roles in people’s lives. Occupational Therapy can be implemented for a newborn in NICU for positioning, sensory stimulation, and individualized treatment plan to meet the unique needs of an infant and family. It also aids with developmental milestones for toddlers and preschoolers. Attention issues, motor skills, even day-to-day tasks like buttoning, difficulty in knowing right from left, not being able to zip, inability to sit in one place, fidgety, incessant tantrums, etc., can be effectively addressed through regular interventions. OTs work in rehabilitation with cardiac PTS, accidents, fracture, brain injury, stroke, psychiatric conditions, anxiety, and other complex issues.
It is also effective for typically growing kids who do not have any disabilities as such. It can help to stimulate the brain and make the neural connections stronger which can improve their problem-solving abilities, reflexes, and swiftness in thinking, attention, self-confidence, and socio-emotional functioning. It helps the child to recognize the relationship between emotions, feelings, and their ‘internal state of being’. This cognition, in turn, improves attention, learning, and emotions. Thus, it is quite evident that the goal of the therapy is to encourage self-empowerment and independence because everyone deserves an opportunity to lay a firm ground for themselves while aiming for the skies!.