OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SERVICES

Little Big and LOUD provides comprehensive occupational therapy evaluations to assist in planning personalized occupational therapy plans.

FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT/HAND SKILLS

Fine Motor Development/Hand Skills refers to how children use their hands and fingers as well as the ability to grasp and control objects while just using one hand. This is a foundational skill for hand-writing, scissor skills, clothing management, tying shoes, engaging in play and so much more. Examples of hand skills would be putting a coin in a piggy bank or crumbling up a sheet of paper using one hand.

SENSORY PROCESSING

Sensory Processing is the way the body receives and organizes input from the environment, and then responds to the input. It is how the body perceives and organizes noises, textures, smells, tastes, or being touched. If a child is sensitive in one of these areas, their body might respond in a nontraditional way to a certain noise or certain texture. Sensory processing plays a huge role in how a child's behaviors are affected by the environment.

SELF-REGULATION

Self-Regulation is the ability to calm one's self in order to respond appropriately to the environment. Self-Regulation is a primary component of understanding and acting on emotions in an appropriate way.

SOCIAL INTERACTION SKILLS

Social Interaction Skills encompass how a child responds to and interacts with peers and adults. This includes how a child engages in play with peers, and how a child manages behaviors when interacting with adults or peers. Social Interaction Skills include improving attention and following directions in order to create relationships.

FEEDING DEVELOPMENT

Feeding Development refers to how a child is able to effectively chew and swallow a variety of foods. Feeding therapy encompasses texture sensitivities, oral motor control, and ability to use eating utensils (spoon, fork, cups) in order to eat and drink. This is a multi-step process in order to increase a child's food variety and eating skills to make mealtime meaningful without stress.

SELF-CARE SKILLS

Self-Care Skills include dressing skills, shoe tying, potty training and toileting skills, hygiene skills (tooth brushing, hair brushing), feeding skills, and any other self-care task done daily. Occupational therapy can work to make your child as independent as possible in these tasks while evaluating sensory components that are inhibiting independence or tolerance of self-care skills.

HANDWRITING DEVELOPMENT

Handwriting is a very important skill for school readiness. Handwriting development encompasses spatial orientation, letter formation, knowledge of letters and numbers, letter placement, pencil grasp and legibility.

VISUAL MOTOR SKILLS

Visual Motor Skills refer to how a child uses their eyes and hands together in order to perform tasks that involve hand-eye coordination. Visual motor skills include completing a puzzle, using scissors, stacking a block tower, stringing beads, and more.

GRASPING SKILLS

Grasping Skills refer to the child's ability to use their fingers and hands in a controlled way. Grasping looks at how a child grasps a pencil or uses their fingers in buttoning. Grasping skills advance with age and are a precursor to complex manipulations of objects.

FUNCTIONAL PLAY SKILLS

Functional Play Skills look at how a child interacts with toys and peers to engage in play. It is looking at how a child imitates play, is imaginative in play, and how a child uses toys and the environment as a means to explore and learn.