Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy is the health profession, which through the “task”, has as purpose:

  •     The highest independence of the individual in all aspects of his life
  •     His adaptation to the environment and
  •     The improvement of the quality of his life.

The term “task” refers to any purposeful activity and, thus, to target- oriented activities, that could develop, improve or rehabilitate individual’s skills for the highest improvements of his functionality.
For a person with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), the priorities of the program of Occupational Therapy are set in accordance with the objectives and needs that would arise from his/ her evaluation. The basic goal of the program is the promotion of skills that could reassure the highest of individual’s functional and independent living.
The evaluation of his abilities, difficulties and interests is taking place through:

  •     The structured observation/ clinical observations
  •     The unstructured observations
  •     Weighted and unweighted tests and
  •     Questionnaires.

As long as the Occupational Therapist collects the needed information from the evaluation, he assesses and briefly describes individual’s difficulties in task completion, as well as their interference with his functionality.
The intervention sessions of Occupational Therapy could utilize and combine a variety of teaching strategies. These strategies could support students to deal with the requirements of their environment and include:

  •     The development of their Daily Living Skills/ Independence, in the directions of:
    •  Toileting
    •  Dressing/Undressing
    •  Feeding
    •  Personal Hygiene and
    •  Grooming
  •     The development of their fine and gross motor skills, in the directions of:
    •  Lateral and bilateral coordination
    •  Visual and motor coordination
    •  Motor design
    •  Use of everyday tools and objects
  •     The development of their cognitive and perceptual skills, in the directions of:
    •  The beginning and ending of activities
    •  Concentration
    •  Time and Space orientation
    •  Recognition and identification of colors, shapes and objects and
    •  Somatognosia
    •  Understanding and following instructions
  •     The development of their sensory processing skills, in the directions of:
    •  The control of the level of arousal
    •  The control of their sensory sensitivity
    •  The search of sensory stimulus
  •     The development of their play skills, in the directions of:
    •  The support of the interaction
    •  The development of interests
    •  Rules of games/ symbolic play, group play

 

  •     The development of their social skills, in the directions of:
    • The development of relationships/ social integration
    • Cooperation
    • Understanding of social rules



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