Occupational Therapy in Schools

There are many benefits to conducting Occupational Therapy at school as opposed to in a clinic. The research shows that Occupational Therapy works best in the child’s environment such as home or school opposed to an artificial environment such as a clinic. Occupational Therapists specialise in helping children through understanding their environment and modifying the task or environment to best suit the child’s needs. We aim to optimise the “fit” between what students want and need to do, aspects of the school environment and what students are required to do. Working at the school also allows us more opportunity to work collaboratively with teachers and school staff as well as parents in order to produce the best outcomes for students.

If schools have one ‘preferred provider’ it can benefit both the school and the child because rather than having multiple therapists coming in and out of the school, taking children out of the class at different times and having little opportunity or time to work collaboratively with the teachers it allows the therapist to find ways to work with the children which works best for everyone, helps therapists gain a better understanding of the environment in which the children work on a daily basis and provides more opportunities to work with the teachers and parents as well as minimising travel costs.