Occupational therapy for disabled children

What is occupational therapy?

The children with disabilities occupational therapy team support children, young people and their families where a need arises from a disability or medical condition which affects their ability to access day to day activities in their home environment.

We are based in Southampton and work within the Southampton boundary. The team consists of a team manager, practice supervisor, advanced practitioners, occupational therapists and community care officers.

We work alongside social workers including those within the children with disabilities team. We also liaise with those professionals directly supporting a child or young person including other occupational therapists, physiotherapists, health visitors and children’s community nurses.

The aim of occupational therapy support is to:

• promote independence
• minimise the impact of a disability or medical condition
• support care provision in the home
• promote safety in the home environment

Who do we assess?

We will assess children and young people with a long-term disability or medical condition which affects their ability to manage in their home environment. This means that the condition is expected to last longer than six months. Our involvement can be for children and young people from 0 to 18 years of age.

Referrals for children with a physical disability are accepted from parents, carers and professionals.

What we do

We provide an occupational therapy assessment. Following this weoffer support via advice, Signposting and information, through prescription of specialist equipment or by recommending home adaptations.

This includes:

• prescription of equipment or home adaptation to enable personal care (such as bathing and toileting).
• postural support via specialist seating to enable access to tabletop activities including mealtimes, and play.
• access to and within the home
• safe methods of transfer (moving and handling)
• advice on altering routines or practices to reduce the impact of a disability
• identifying methods to minimise risks where there is a lack of safety awareness or behaviour that challenges.

Our recommendations and prescriptions are based on the following principles:

• to maximise the opportunities for children and young people to maintain their independence in activities of daily living
• to enable children and young people to acquire and build daily living skills
• children and young people participate in the decision-making process linked to occupational therapy interventions
• provision or recommendations will be the least restrictive option available to ensure safety

If appropriate we schedule reviews of provision or recommendations. This is to ensure that any equipment or adaptation remains appropriate for the level of need and to reflect changes as a child or young person grows and develops.

Not all needs arising from a disability or medical condition require specialist occupational therapy intervention or it may be more appropriate for us to signpost you to another organisation or service. We support and encourage access to universal provision to support equality of access to services.

Occupational therapy criteria

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