Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapists identify students' strengths and needs and plan intervention to improve core skills like sensori-motor, cognitive or psycho-social skills that may take place in groups or individually. Input includes movement activity groups, health and hygiene groups or individual sensori-motor sessions. We then support students in applying their existing and their new skills to different aspects of their life.

We assess, advise and monitor:

• The ability of each student to manage self-care by working with him/her in the residential units, their classroom or during leisure time
• Working jointly with colleagues from Clinical Services as appropriate to maximise outcomes
• Working with education and care staff to enable the student to improve skills, for example use a knife and fork together, get dressed, develop their writing skills or learn how to make a snack
• It is also important to develop ways to compensate for long term difficulties, or to reduce the risk of injuries
• Providing specialist equipment or to adapt the environment to enable the student to function at their best despite their difficulties so they can lead a full and exciting life with as much independence as possible
• Providing protective helmets or pad aspects of the environment, if required. We also provide specialist equipment like adapted cutlery, kitchen equipment, specialist seating, bathing and showering equipment

As our students are usually with us for the longer term, we are able to monitor and upgrade on a regular basis any interventions we have set up to ensure that students are continuing to develop their skills. We also ensure that staff continue to have the knowledge and skills to enable the students to be as independent as possible and to benefit from our interventions.