Related Services
90% of motor development in the first year of life, is driven by vision
Related services are an integral part of Preschool and Elementary programs. When a child has limited or no vision, facilitating this development through therapy, is very important.
Therapy Service Models
Currently there are many different occupational, physical and speech therapists with an average of 15 years’ experience—much of that with children with visual impairments.
All of these therapists work together to give our children the widest range of possibilities for growth and achieving their fullest potential.
Occupational therapy helps children function at their best in their major life roles (or occupation). This could be learning to sit, to play with a new toy, to feed themselves or to understand the sensory input (touch and movement primarily) they are receiving from the world around them. Occupational therapy with young children tends to focus on play skills, hand skills, self care skills (such as eating and dressing), sensory processing and motor skills (both gross and fine).
The physical therapist tends to focus on large motor abilities such as mobility and balance, gross motor skill acquisition, postural alignment and appropriate use of adaptive equipment. Activities are provided in the context of functional play/school activities as well as providing the child with the appropriate sensory and motor experiences to enable them to develop or enhance their skills and develop their maximum level of independence.
The ability to communicate is a vital part of a young child’s development and subsequent interaction with the world. Speech and language pathologists in pediatrics work with children to enhance their expressive and receptive language, feeding and oral motor functioning, cognition. They can also use augmentative communication, such as sign language, high and low tech adaptive devices or tactile and/or textural communication boards.
