Our OTs at Remarkable You OT support our families with a wide range of goals, in a broad range of different occupations! We have talked in a previous blog about what occupations are, and what occupational therapists do, but let’s dive more into a specific occupation.
Self- care!
I wonder what comes to mind when you hear ‘self-care’?
You might picture a spa, or someone with a face mask and cucumbers over their eyes. Maybe you think of the relaxing activities you do to look after yourself after a long day.
When OTs talk about self-care, we aren’t really talking about having a spa day. We are talking about all the personal care occupations that your child does throughout their day. Including:
- Toileting- this could be changing nappies or going to the toilet.
- Getting dressed- including doing up buttons, putting shoes and socks on, managing the sensory aspects of clothing.
- Showering or having a bath- including washing themselves, drying themselves.
- Brushing teeth
- Brushing hair
- And so much more!
Why might a child benefit from OT to support self-care??
Just like any other occupation, sometimes children need some extra support to help them with their self-care activities. Self-care occupations can be difficult for lots of different reasons including:
- Sensory differences: self-care occupations come with a lot of uncomfortable and sometimes overstimulating sensory experiences. Activities like brushing teeth or hair, getting dressed, showering and even toileting, can be difficult for kids who don’t like the strong tastes, feel, textures or smells involved. OTs can help adapt these occupations to be more comfortable, or work with families to create self-care routines that are more tolerable for children.
- Attention and routines: some children find it difficult to follow routines, know the steps, and keep their attention during self-care occupations. For example, getting ready for school in the morning can be really hard for some families, with some children getting side-tracked with other fun things, or not remembering all the steps they need to do. OTs can help support families and children in their routines, and provide helpful strategies for these occupations.
- Fine motor: some self-care activities involve using the little muscles of our hands and fingers in intricate ways (e.g., doing up buttons, tying shoe-laces). OTs can help build up children’s finger strength and practice these tricky skills.
- Body cues and interoception: sometimes children have trouble noticing the cues in their bodies that tell them they need to go to the toilet, or that they are hungry or thirsty. This is called interoception. OTs can help children to recognise these feelings and provide strategies, which can help with things like getting to the toilet on time.
The occupation of self-care is a big world, that can bring a whole lot of challenges for children. Every child’s self-care occupations are unique, and every family’s routines are wonderfully different. OTs have the privilege of working collaboratively with families to help find ways to support children to be independent and have success in their self-care occupations.
