If a number of difficulties are exhibited in the following areas, and are interfering with the child’s ability to perform at an age appropriate level within the home or school environment, an Occupational Therapy referral is recommended.
Fine Motor
- Difficulty writing in an age appropriate manner. May include difficulties with
– letter formation
– letter sizing
– letter placement
– spacing between words
– speed of writing - Difficulty in any self care task such as dressing, grooming, eating
Sensory
- Dislikes being touched
- Excessive touching of objects and people
- Likes to take frequent movement breaks
- Tires easily
- Covers ears frequently
- Distracted by noise
- Very sensitive to noise
- Fussy eater
Cognitive/ Perceptual
- Slow to learn or master new skills
- Lacks body awareness – bumps into things
- Seems to understand verbal instructions but cannot complete the task
- Difficulty with ball skills
- Difficulty with visual tracking, loses place when reading
- Squints, rubs, watery eyes
Behaviour (if associated with difficulties in previous columns)
- Difficulty coping with emotions such as stress, anger
- Difficulty with daily life skills such as meal preparation, money skills, chores
- Difficulty maintaining personal hygiene and presentation
- Difficulty managing time
- Difficulty maintaining a healthy lifestyle
- Difficulty solving problems
- Low self esteem
- Inappropriate or immature behaviour
- Difficulty attending/ concentrating
- Overactive
- Underactive
- Poor social skills
- Reluctant to new and/or challenging tasks
- Limited leisure activities
