Executive functioning skills require complex thinking and focused attention. If your child is struggling with executive functioning skills, they may have difficulty with:
Does My Child Need Occupational Therapy?
You may ask does my child may need occupational therapy and the answer is yes. Occupational Therapy helps children with gross motor skills, fine motor skills, visual processing skills, executive functioning skills, sensory processing, social skills, and play skills. Occupational Therapy can help your child independently participate in day to day tasks at home, school, and the community. We are here to help your children learn the necessary skills to enhance their independence for each milestone of their lives.
Your child may benefit from occupational therapy services if they are not developing skills that are common during a particular age. All children are different and develop skills at their own pace, but if you have concerns you may contact our occupational therapist to consult with!
Signs to look for:
- Executive Functioning Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
- Sensory Processing
- Gross Motor Skills
- Visual Processing
- Social and Play Skills
Transitioning to a new task
Regulating their emotions (meltdowns/tantrums)
Completing a basic daily task due to lack of attention
Completing school work due to being tired
Learning new material
Proper letter and number formation
Managing hyperactivity or low energy
Fine motor skills are the detailed and coordinated movements performed with thumb and fingers. If your child is struggling with fine motor skills, they may have difficulty with:
Holding a pencil
Using utensils to feed themselves by age appropriate time
Using scissors
Using shoelaces, buttons, zippers and opening containers
Coloring, tracing, drawing
Prewriting strokes and shapes
Number formation or hand writing due to improper grasp
Lack of hand dominance by appropriate age
Manipulating toys
Avoiding tasks that require the use of fine motor skills
Sensory Processing is the ability to interpret information that we receive from the environment through our senses. Your child may have sensory processing challenges if they are:
Overly sensitive to sound, movement, touch
Presenting with unusually high or low pain threshold
Constantly needing to jump, move, crash, rub against things
Emotionally reactive in a stimulating environment
Distracted by auditory or visual stimuli
Unable to cope with change
Not able to calm or soothe themselves when upset
Having challenges with table time/quiet time
Gross Motor skills help us to coordinate the movement of our arms, legs, and other body parts in order to perform larger movements. A child behind in gross motor skills may appear uncoordinated or clumsy. If your child is struggling with gross motor skills, they may have difficulty with:
Tummy time which impacts their ability to meet rolling, sitting, crawling milestones
Walking in coordinated and purposeful manner (toe walking)
Sitting appropriately (W sitting)
Participating in recess, gym, or sports during or outside of school
Balancing
Throwing and catching a ball
Crossing midline during play
Children with gross motor skills may also have poor muscle tone resulting in greater effort to participate in larger body movements. You may notice they fatigue more quickly.
Visual processing is how we understand and make sense of things in our visual field. The brain interprets visual information and processes what is seen. If your child is struggling with visual processing skills, they may have difficulty with:
Recognizing letters
Correct spacing and sizing of letter formation
Copying shapes or letters
Visual tracking/crossing midline
Finding objects among other objects
Copying things from board at school
Understanding left and right
Keeping place when reading
Social and play skills help a child to learn problem-solving, gain self-confidence, and make sense of the world. If your child is struggling with play skills they may have difficulty with:
Self-directed play requiring an adult for guidance
Imitative play
Copying shapes or letters
Jumping from task to task
Appropriate exploration of toy use
Joining in play with peers or family members
Sharing and taking turns
Eye contact or expressing themselves through non-verbal cues
Sharing and taking turns
Executive Functioning Skills
Executive functioning skills require complex thinking and focused attention. If your child is struggling with executive functioning skills, they may have difficulty with:
Transitioning to a new task
Regulating their emotions (meltdowns/tantrums)
Completing a basic daily task due to lack of attention
Completing school work due to being tired
Learning new material
Proper letter and number formation
Managing hyperactivity or low energy
Sensory Processing
Sensory Processing is the ability to interpret information that we receive from the environment through our senses. Your child may have sensory processing challenges if they are:
Overly sensitive to sound, movement, touch
Presenting with unusually high or low pain threshold
Constantly needing to jump, move, crash, rub against things
Emotionally reactive in a stimulating environment
Distracted by auditory or visual stimuli
Unable to cope with change
Not able to calm or soothe themselves when upset
Having challenges with table time/quiet time
Gross Motor Skills
Gross Motor skills help us to coordinate the movement of our arms, legs, and other body parts in order to perform larger movements. A child behind in gross motor skills may appear uncoordinated or clumsy. If your child is struggling with gross motor skills, they may have difficulty with:
Tummy time which impacts their ability to meet rolling, sitting, crawling milestones
Walking in coordinated and purposeful manner (toe walking)
Sitting appropriately (W sitting)
Participating in recess, gym, or sports during or outside of school
Balancing
Throwing and catching a ball
Crossing midline during play
Children with gross motor skills may also have poor muscle tone resulting in greater effort to participate in larger body movements. You may notice they fatigue more quickly.
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are the detailed and coordinated movements performed with thumb and fingers. If your child is struggling with fine motor skills, they may have difficulty with:
Holding a pencil
Using utensils to feed themselves by age appropriate time
Using scissors
Using shoelaces, buttons, zippers and opening containers
Coloring, tracing, drawing
Prewriting strokes and shapes
Number formation or hand writing due to improper grasp
Lack of hand dominance by appropriate age
Manipulating toys
Avoiding tasks that require the use of fine motor skills
Visual Processing Skills
Visual processing is how we understand and make sense of things in our visual field. The brain interprets visual information and processes what is seen. If your child is struggling with visual processing skills, they may have difficulty with:
Recognizing letters
Correct spacing and sizing of letter formation
Copying shapes or letters
Visual tracking/crossing midline
Finding objects among other objects
Copying things from board at school
Understanding left and right
Keeping place when reading
Social and Play Skills
Social and play skills help a child to learn problem-solving, gain self-confidence, and make sense of the world. If your child is struggling with play skills they may have difficulty with:
Self-directed play requiring an adult for guidance
Imitative play
Copying shapes or letters
Jumping from task to task
Appropriate exploration of toy use
Joining in play with peers or family members
Sharing and taking turns
Eye contact or expressing themselves through non-verbal cues
Sharing and taking turns