Occupational Therapy
What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?
Montclair Speech Therapy now offers Occupational Therapy evaluations, consultations, and individual treatments sessions. We offer a specially designed Occupational Therapy Center located within our Caldwell Office and we are currently enrolling new patients into this unique program. Schedule today (973) 364-0804!
Occupational Therapy (OT) focuses on helping people of all ages with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities be as independent as possible in their activities of daily living. Occupational Therapy can help kids and adults improve their cognitive, sensory, gross motor and fine motor skills to enhance their self-esteem and sense of accomplishment.
OT Services
-
Bilateral Coordination
Bilateral coordination is the ability to use both sides of the body at the same time in a controlled and organized manner. Coordinating both sides of the body is an indication that both sides of the brain are communicating and sharing information with each other.
-
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills are those which require whole body movement and which involve the large muscles of the body to perform everyday functions, such as standing and walking, running and jumping, and sitting upright at the table.
-
Self Care Skills
Activities of Daily Living or ADLs is a term used by occupational therapists to refer to the basic self-care tasks an individual does on a day-to-day basis. These activities are fundamental in caring for oneself and maintaining independence. Self-care includes activities that complete one’s daily routine such as dressing, self-feeding, grooming, and hygiene, as well as functional mobility at home and in the community.
-
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills involve the use of the smaller muscle of the hands, such as when doing up buttons, opening lunch boxes, or using pencils or scissors. Fine motor skill efficiency significantly influences the quality of the task outcome as well as the speed of task performance.
-
Sensory Processing
Sensory Processing is the effective registration of sensory input in the environment. It is the way the brain receives, organizes, and responds to sensory input in order to behave in a meaningful & consistent manner.
-
Visual-Motor Skills
Visual-Motor Skills enable an individual to process information around them. The ability to observe, recognize, and use visual information about forms, shapes, figures, and objects makes up our visual-motor abilities.
If you’d like to learn more about each of our Speech Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists, please visit our Therapists page!
Specialized Training
The Listening Program
Therapeutic Listening is a specific sound-based intervention that is embedded in a developmental and sensory integration perspective.
Alert Program
The Alert Program®, with its user-friendly approach, helps anyone articulate their inner experience of self-regulation (how alert they feel). The program emphasizes how to change alert levels throughout the day, making it easy to get out of bed, work, play, learn, relax, socialize, and go to bed.
PAMs
Physical Agent Modalities
One class of treatments are called Physical Agent Modalities (PAMs). The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) describes PAMs as equipment including superficial and thermal agents, electrotherapeutic agents, and mechanical devices.