OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY: Occupational therapy is a health profession concerned with improving a person's occupational performance. In a pediatric setting the occupational therapist deals with children whose occupations are usually players, preschoolers, or students. The occupational therapist evaluates a child's performance in relation to what is developmentally expected for that age group. If there is a discrepancy between developmental expectations and functional ability, the occupational therapist looks at a variety of perceptual and neuromuscular factors which influence function. Based on knowledge of neurology, kinesiology, development, medical diagnoses, and current research, the occupational therapist can identify the children who have the best potential for remediation through occupational therapy.

OCULAR MOTOR DYSFUNCTION: Both eyes are controlled by a series of muscles that surround the eyeball. These muscles are guided by sensations from vestibular input and head and neck responses to gravity and movement. These hidden senses coordinate both eyes to work and move together as a team. If this doesn’t develop, a lazy eye may appear or other signs of lacking eye coordination (binocularity). Functionally, this can affect achieving eye contact with another person, gaining eye hand coordination, following a moving target with the eyes, or following a line of text when reading a book.

ORAL MOTOR: The integration of sensations of the tongue, lips, jaw, mouth, (and rib cage) all play a role in achieving good outcomes of breathing, swallowing, chewing, and talking. When the mouth doesn’t work correctly, sensory integration issues should be considered.