Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy services help support children and adults in developing skills for daily living, such as play skills, eating, organizing school and work tasks and self-care skills. Occupations are the daily activities that people want to, or need to do in their home, at school/work, and in the community. Through individualized treatment plans, occupational therapists can address a wide range of challenges that a person may be experiencing.

Our occupational therapists come from a strong background in pediatric and adult services and a passion for working with individuals and families’ towards their goals and priorities. Having a team of  occupational therapists as a part of our centre on a full time basis allows your OT and SLP to work collaboratively as part of a comprehensive team to support your or your child’s needs.

Our occupational therapists treatment goals could include:

• Self-care skills: feeding, toileting, dressing, visual plans, tying shoes
• Sensory regulation: improve regulation of tactile, visual, oral, auditory, movement senses
• Self-regulation: managing emotions, managing transitions, managing frustration, making sense of sensory meltdowns and overloads
• School skills: school readiness, printing, cursive, keyboarding, organization
• Play skills: turn-taking, joint attention, idea generation, creativity, flexible thinking
• Gross motor skills: rolling, crawling, walking, jumping, balance, coordination, muscle tone
• Sport skills: kicking or throwing a ball, riding a bike, skipping
• Mental wellness: managing anxiety, mindfulness, coping strategies
• Executive Functioning skills: planning, prioritizing, organizing, completing tasks

OT services available:

• Comprehensive assessment and reports
• Parent coaching and training
• Strategies and recommendations for home, school, work and the community
• Clinic-based intervention and consultation
• Community, daycare and preschool intervention and consultation
• Home-based intervention and consultation

Client Testimonial 

“I contacted Victoria Speech and Language Centre as a very anxious autistic adult. I was anxious because I had never had supports like this when I was younger even though I should have had them then, and I was anxious because I was told by others, before contacting Victoria Speech and Language Centre, that this kind of service doesn’t exist for me. It was a huge relief when I finally did reach out and was reassured right away that there was someone who could work with me and had experience working with autistic adults. 

My OT has helped me learn so much about myself in a short time already! I have a much better understanding of my sensory profile as well as what things I need to do to self-regulate, and how to communicate those needs to others. These things, combined with an increased awareness of when I’m heading towards overload and shutdown or meltdown, have already helped me to avoid getting to that point as often as I used to.

We have also worked on multiple different options for me to be able to communicate when I am unable to speak, which makes what was before a very unsafe situation feel a lot more manageable and safe. My OT has also helped me a lot with being aware of the activities that are important to me in a day, and ways to choose and organize those things so that I can budget the little energy I have, and also so that time doesn’t just slip away from me as much as it used to, which makes my life feel more meaningful, and much less frustrating.

One of the best things is that my OT has helped me be overall less ashamed about the supports I need, and what I need in order to self-regulate as an autistic person, because the help I’m getting is truly kind and empathetic, and tailored to my specific needs and experience. I have always in our sessions felt seen, heard, and understood, and we always go at my pace with whatever I can manage that day.”

M.S.