Paediatric

Rett Syndrome

Rett syndrome is one of the rarest neuro-developmental disorders that mostly happen in infants, particularly, in small girls.

However, this disorder can happen in boys also and some of the common signs and symptoms of Rett Syndrome include:

• Lack of proper coordination and movement
• Facing difficulty with speech and communication
• Having difficulty in breathing

So, to fix Rett Syndrome permanently, you must consult a qualified occupational therapist (OT) immediately. Depending on your present condition and recovery goals, your therapist will decide on a custom evaluation and treatment option to improve your handwriting, concentration, dressing sense and fine motor skills so that you can live a happy and normal life in the long run.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder is another neuro-developmental disorder, where a child faces the problem of delayed speech. Apart from delayed speech, there are a few more speech issues that the child experiences during this time.

• Lack of efficiency in vocabulary or language
• Lack of adaptive behavioural skills

So, the child will need an occupational therapy at this time to overcome the condition of CDD forever. Basically, an occupational therapy helps the victim regain the skills and qualities essential for living a happy and normal life.

Further, the occupational therapist will work with the child having CDD to improve his or her fine motor skills such as using pencils, scissors and utensils to say the least.

This will make the child more self-reliant and confident with better writing abilities in the near future.

Developmental Delay

Developmental delay refers to a notable delay in one or multiple areas of a child’s development, such as motor skills, speech and language, cognitive skills, social and emotional development as well as self-care skills.

More specifically, developmental delay can happen in children of any age mainly due to reasons like medical issues, environmental factors and genetic factors to name just a few.

Some of the common signs of developmental delay in children include:

• Delayed or no crawling, rolling over, walking, or doing other motor activities
• Difficulty with speech and communication, such as not speaking in phrases by the age of 2 or having difficulty following directions
• Poor social behaviours such as not making eye contact, not responding to social cues, or having difficulty in making friends
• Behavioural issues, such as getting aggressive frequently or withdrawing oneself from social events or gatherings
• Difficulty with self-care tasks, such as dressing, feeding, or using the bathroom independently

So, to fix developmental delay nicely and permanently, occupational therapy can do wonders for the child.

In this situation, the occupational therapist will use personalized play-based techniques and hacks to improve the victim’s fine and gross motor skills.

This improves the child’s ability to respond to varying situations effectively such as making sounds, doing movements or touching others etc. Further, an occupational therapy helps improve the cognitive skills in the child such as memory, attention and problem-solving with better social skills including sharing, turn-taking and communication.

ADHD

ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a serious childhood neuro-developmental disorder and one must treat it on time before it affects his or her adulthood.

An occupational therapist usually diagnoses ADHD in a person during his or her childhood. At this time, the child finds it difficult to pay attention or manage their behaviour in school, home or social situations.

During the test, the therapist will use sensory integration therapy, particularly on those kids who have sensory processing disorder.

Further, the doctor uses deep pressure techniques such as massage, repetitive or rhythmic movements such as trampoline or swing or listening therapies to improve the child’s sensitivity to certain sounds.

Poor fine motor skills

Fine motor skills refer to the ability to make movements using one’s hands, arms, fingers, feet and wrists muscles.

Some of the natural fine motor skills include pencil skills like colouring or writing, brushing teeth, tying shoe laces, opening the lunch box and so on.

Stroke, dyspraxia, congenital deformities, cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders can hamper a person’s fine motor skills favourably.

So, to improve your fine motor skills and make them better, consult an occupational therapist (OT) immediately and a therapist will use effective tools and techniques to fix these issues according to the unique needs of each case.

Gross motor skills

Gross motor skills help us to move our body properly. The main gross motor skills include walking, running, hand-eye coordination, standing, skipping and more.

So, if you face any problems related to your gross motor skills, you can take the help of an occupational therapy. This kind of therapy uses various techniques and methods to fix these issues in a few days or weeks.

Occupational Therapy uses an array of therapies to address gross motor skill issues. Some exercises include strengthening the core muscles and improving stability, coordination, balance, attention and improving self-awareness and day-to-day activities etc.

Plus, an occupational therapist will ask the child to practice some physical exercises such as skipping, hopscotch along with other effective methods to improve his or her sensory modulation and ability to sense and plan tasks ahead of time.

Vestibular Dysfunction

Vestibular dysfunction is a disturbance in the body’s balance system due to a disease or injury. Some of the common symptoms of Vestibular Dysfunction include dizziness, trouble in maintaining body balance, hearing and seeing etc.

So, to fix Vestibular Dysfunction forever, it is good to seek the help of an occupational therapist who will do a custom test and treatment on you based on your unique needs and requirements.

At this time, the therapist will use various tools and techniques to improve the fine motor skills and gross motor skills in the victim so that he or she can start doing the daily activities and participate in social events and situations just like before.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect movement, balance and posture. It happens when a sudden damage takes place in the immature and underdeveloped brain, mostly before birth.

As a result, the child finds it difficult to move properly with a sudden increase in the reflexes, spasticity and floppiness of his or her limbs. Other symptoms may include peculiar movements, unusual postures and unsteady movements etc.

So, a person with cerebral palsy may face trouble with movement, coordination, speaking and communication, eating, developmental delay and many more.

Therefore, if your child also suffers from cerebral palsy, consult a good occupational therapist (OT) immediately.

An occupational therapy will help your child manage daily tasks and activities such as eating, dressing, using the bathroom etc. A therapist makes it possible by improving the cognitive and fine motor skills of the victim.

Global developmental delay

Global developmental delay is a condition where a child fails to gain the developmental skills that other children of his or her age have already gained.

Common signs and symptoms include slow learning, poor motor, cognitive and social skills and late speech and language development.

To fix these issues properly, the child will need an occupational therapy from a qualified doctor. At this time, the therapist will use various methods to detect developmental delay in the person.

These mainly include tests to detect the child’s sensory perception, motor and cognitive skills. Further, the therapist involves the child in various play-related activities to keep the child positive throughout the treatment with an improved ability to perform regular tasks and activities nicely.

Progressive neurological disorder

Progressive neurological disorder is a nerve-related disease that affects a person’s movement, balance and ability to communicate with others considerably.

In other words, doctors also call it degenerative disorder or neurodegenerative disorder that sometimes causes difficulty in breathing or swallowing in the victim as well.

So, to fix progressive neurological disorder permanently, one must consult a qualified occupational therapist immediately.

An occupational therapist will help the victim manage their day-to-day tasks and activities that in return will lead to improved emotional, social and physical behaviours in the person.

Actually, the therapist works with the victim on a one-to-one basis to detect any unwanted problems or abnormalities in his or her condition.

For this, the therapist uses many effective tools and techniques that allows the patient to perform any task or activity but with a positive viewpoint.

This further teaches the child to adapt to the changing environments nicely with the ability to learn new skills while practising the old ones at the same time.

As a result, the patient will have little to no risk of progressive neurological disorder now and in the coming times.

ALS, MND

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.

Common symptoms of ALS include weakened limbs, muscle twitching, slurred speech and trouble in eating and breathing.

Similarly, MND or motor neuron disease is a more serious disorder that affects the brain and nerves that can cause a physical weakness that may get worse over time.

Therefore, the best remedy to both these diseases is occupational therapy. Yes, not only an occupational therapy can fix ALS and MND permanently but they also allow victims live a happy and normal life.

As a result, a person suffering from MND or ALS can easily do the normal tasks and activities such as community engagement, leisure talks, work, daily chores and self-care that will make him more confident and self-reliant than before.

Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the brain and spinal cord that directly attacks the immune system, particularly its protective mechanism.

This protective component covers the nerve fibres and causes communication troubles between your brain and the rest of the body.

So, to overcome a disease like Multiple Sclerosis, one must go for an occupational therapy as quickly as possible. In this therapy, the patient will learn to use their energy and other abilities nicely that yields beneficial and not harmful results.

Further, the therapist will provide the victim with self-management skills and compensatory techniques to fix his or her cognitive disorders and balance out the emotions by making the person interact with other people.

Behavioural Disorders

Behavioural disorders can happen in children due to various social, environmental, neurological and genetic factors.

Common signs and symptoms of behavioural disorders include lack of emotional control and impulse, aggressive behaviours, self-defiance and hyperactivity to name a few.

So, to fix any kind of behavioural disorder permanently, one can take the help of an occupational therapy from a qualified doctor.

Basically, an occupational therapy detects any unwanted behavioural issues that a child may have and that prevent him or her from living a normal life.

Further, an OT develops specific skills in the victim that in return lead to better social interactions, self-regulation and wellness in the person. Therefore, to cure any behavioural disorder from the core, consult one of our occupational therapists (OTs) today to get satisfying outcomes.

Poor Handwriting

Many children suffer from the problem of poor handwriting. If your child is also like that, then an occupational therapy may help him or her a lot.

In this treatment, an occupational therapist will use various techniques and exercises to improve their letter formation, spacing and alignment abilities considerably.

Further, therapist will use a couple of techniques more to improve and strengthen the grip and pencil control in your kid. As a result, the hand and finger strength, coordination and dexterity in the child will get quite better than before, things that are important for good handwriting.

Plus, sometimes, occupational therapists also work with parents and teachers to make the treatment more effective. For this, they together make the environment as favourable for the child as possible to ensure good handwriting in him or her.

These techniques usually include adjusting the height of the child’s chair or desk and using special writing tools to help the child hold the pencil properly while writing anything.

As a result, not only the child will gain a good handwriting but he or she will also overcome the issue of poor handwriting permanently.