OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
The KCC Occupational Therapy Team began in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne in 2014. Since then, we have been providing service and support to our clients and their families to facilitate the development of their child’s independence skills. As Occupational Therapists, our aim is to work with children to help them perform and participate in their daily occupations or activities across the areas of self-care, productivity, and leisure. Our focus is to promote independence and improve our client’s capacity to fully engage in their daily activities. Our Occupational Therapists are passionate about using a family-centred and strengths-based approach when working with children and their families to support them in reaching their full potential.
Through collaborative efforts and partnerships with parents and caregivers, our goal is to equip children with the skills they need to navigate life confidently. Our evidence-based interventions are tailored to each child’s unique strengths and challenges.
As Occupational Therapists, we can support our clients to develop their skills in the following areas:
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills involve the coordination of small muscles, particularly those in the hands and fingers. These skills are crucial for tasks that require precision and control, such as writing, buttoning a shirt, or using utensils. Our Occupational Therapists can assess key components of fine motor skills such as hand eye coordination, finger dexterity, hand strength and endurance, and provide specific recommendations to guide the development of these skills.
Our paediatric occupational therapy team is here to assess and address any concerns relating to your child’s fine motor skills. Through personalised interventions and family collaboration, we aim to enhance your child’s abilities and foster independence.
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills involve the coordinated movement of large muscle groups, controlling actions like crawling, running, and jumping. These skills are fundamental for physical activities and play, a crucial role in a child’s overall development. Our team will assist in assessing key components such as core strength, balance, coordination and spatial awareness.
Our paediatric occupational therapy team is here to assess and address any concerns relating to your child’s gross motor skills. We can create fun and dynamic intervention in collaboration with families to enhance your child’s physical capabilities and confidence.
Self-Care Skills
Self-care skills encompass the abilities required for daily activities that promote personal hygiene, health, and overall well-being. These skills contribute to a child’s growing independence and are essential for their overall development. This includes activities such as:
- Personal Hygiene (for example washing hands, brushing teeth, and bathing)
- Dressing and Undressing
- Feeding Skills (for example the ability to feed oneself, use utensils, and drink from a cup)
- Toileting
- Sleep
Our paediatric occupational therapy team is here to assess and address any concerns related to your child’s self-care skills. Through personalised interventions and parent coaching, our goal is to enhance your child’s independence in self-care activities.
Play Skills
Play skills encompass a wide range of activities that contribute to a child’s physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. It involves engaging in activities that are enjoyable, spontaneous, and purposeful, promoting overall well-being. Our team will assist in assessing key components such as imagination and creativity, social Interaction and problem-solving.
Our paediatric occupational therapy team is here to assess, educate and address any concerns related to your child’s play skills. Through evidence- based interventions and collaboration with families, we aim to enhance your child’s play experiences and developmental milestones.
Sensory Processing
Sensory processing refers to how the nervous system receives and interprets information from the senses, integrating this input to produce an appropriate response. This process impacts how a child responds to their environment and how they engage in daily activities.
Some key aspects of sensory processing:
- Sensory Input (involves information received through the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and the sense of movement (vestibular) and body position (proprioception).
- Sensory Modulation (the ability to regulate responses to sensory input, balancing reactions to various stimuli).
Sensory Processing can have an impact on daily functioning, emotional regulation and motor skill development. Our occupational therapy team specialise in assessing and addressing sensory processing challenges that your child may have. Through personalised interventions and collaboration with families, our goal is to help your child navigate the world with confidence.
Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional well-being refers to your child’s ability to understand, express, and manage their emotions in a healthy and constructive manner. It involves fostering positive emotional experiences and equipping them with the skills required to navigate various feelings. We can assist with emotional awareness, expression and regulation. Our paediatric occupational therapy team is here to address emotional well-being concerns. Through evidence- based interventions and collaboration with the child’s support network, our goal is to help your child build resilience and emotional strength.
Executive Functioning
Executive functioning refers to a collective set of cognitive skills that help individuals manage time, pay attention, switch focus, plan, organize, remember details, and self-monitor. These skills are crucial for daily tasks and contribute to a child’s academic and personal success. We can assist with strategies to support a child’s working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and planning/ organisation skills.
Our paediatric occupational therapy team can assess and address executive functioning challenges. through fun and engaging interventions. By utilising the child’s interest and ensuring our focus is family-centred our goal is to empower your child with effective executive functioning skills to manage everyday situations
Community Safety and Awareness
Community Safety refers to one’s ability to access the environment in a safe and controlled manner. As Occupational Therapists we can work with our clients and their families to recognise safe practices and provide support to ensure our clients are able to implement these into real life scenarios. We can provide interventions that cover a variety of community safety skills including road crossing, stranger danger and access to community services.
Our team is here to assess and address community safety and awareness challenges through numerous interventions and collaboration with families. Our goal is to empower your child with the skills needed to navigate the community safely and responsibly.