10 Important Lessons our OT Colleagues Have Taught Us
1. Mobility comes from stability. Strengthening or supporting the trunk, neck, and jaw can speed up motor speech improvement.
2. Movement helps everything! Kids by their very nature need to move. It keeps them alert, motivated and activates those stability muscles we just mentioned.
3. Kid’s feet need to touch the ground. We are often looking for creative ways to support those dangling feet. Recently, Jill found an idea on Pinterest that we are all now using… tape up a shallow shipping box and cut holes in the top for the front two legs of a chair. Instant foot support!
4. Having an OT co-lead a social group is wonderful! They have an endless supply of tools to keep arousal level “just right”
5. Crafts aren’t always as easy as they seem; particularly for kids with motor challenges.
6. Sometimes our “animated” SLP voices that can be too much for kids.
7. OT’s do a lot more than handwriting
8. Behavioral challenges may be rooted in sensory sensitivities
9. Even when little bodies are in constant motion, they may be processing language just fine. Think about whose needs we are addressing when expecting little ones to sit still.
10. Not all OT’s address social skills – though we wish they did 
Karen Head M.S. CCC-SLP and Meghan Graham M.S. CCC-SLP
photo by Ann https://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesbyann/
Lovely post with nice praise for OT’s. I can understand why you wish they helped with social skills – motor skills and social skills are so significantly intertwined in children. Children socialize through play which 100% of the time requires some sort of motor activity.
I especially like #7. I think there are a lot of preconceived notions about what occupational therapists do. Really nice post!
Thanks for the wonderful comments, Chris and Margaret. We get so much spam, you have no idea how fun it is when “real” comments come in
OT’s rock!
Love this
It’s all the stuff I push to get for my special girl.
Love the shout out to OT’s, as I myself am one! We do work on so much more. I actually specialize in feeding and sensory needs. If you get a chance check out me new blog that covers these topics http://www.YourKidsTable.com.