Individual Occupational Therapy
Individual occupational therapy at Kids World Paediatric Therapy is tailored to each child's strengths, developmental profile, interests and individual goals.
Our therapists use a neuro-affirming, relationship-based approach, providing therapy through the DIR® model (Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based). This helps us understand not only the areas in which a child may need support, but also the developmental, sensory, motor, emotional and relational factors influencing their participation in everyday life.
Therapy is engaging and individualised, with activities and interactions carefully adapted to support each child's development while building on their interests, strengths and relationships.
Our DIR® Approach
The DIR® model provides a framework for understanding each child as an individual.
The Developmental (D) component considers a child's Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities (FEDCs) – the foundations that support regulation, connection, communication, problem-solving and increasingly complex thinking.
The Individual-differences (I) component considers the unique ways each child experiences and responds to the world, including sensory processing, motor planning, regulation, communication and other individual differences.
The Relationship-based (R) component recognises that development occurs through relationships. Therapists use warm, responsive interactions and the child's interests to support engagement and create opportunities for development.
Together, these elements help us understand both what a child is finding difficult and why it may be difficult for them.
Supporting Functional Emotional Development
Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities describe how children use emotions and relationships to organise their development and participate in the world around them.
Depending on a child's developmental profile, individual therapy may provide opportunities to strengthen their capacity to:
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Become regulated and available for interaction and learning
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Engage and connect with others
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Participate in purposeful back-and-forth communication
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Communicate intentions, preferences and needs
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Engage in increasingly complex interactions and shared problem-solving
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Develop and communicate ideas through play and other activities
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Connect ideas and experiences in increasingly complex ways
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Develop reflective thinking and a greater understanding of themselves and others
These capacities are not viewed as a rigid sequence or checklist. A child's ability to access them can vary depending on their sensory and emotional state, the environment, the activity and the relationships available to support them.
Our therapists consider what helps each child feel regulated, connected and engaged so that therapy can build from their existing strengths and capacities.
What Can Occupational Therapy Support?
Children may come to occupational therapy for many different reasons. Depending on your child's individual needs and goals, therapy may support areas such as:
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Emotional regulation
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Sensory processing
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Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities
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Fine and gross motor skills
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Motor planning and coordination
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Executive functioning
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Attention and participation
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Self-care and daily living skills
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Play and social participation
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Independence
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Confidence and self-advocacy
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Participation at home, preschool, school and in the community
Rather than focusing on a diagnosis alone, our occupational therapists consider the whole child and how their developmental capacities and individual differences influence the things they want and need to do in everyday life.
Understanding the "Why"
An important part of our approach is understanding the "why" behind a child's challenges.
For example, a child who appears to have difficulty paying attention may be overwhelmed by sensory information, using significant effort to regulate their body, having difficulty planning what to do next or finding it difficult to remain engaged with an activity that does not feel meaningful to them.
Similarly, what looks like inflexibility may reflect difficulty managing uncertainty, regulating emotional responses, generating alternative ideas or coping with sensory or environmental demands.
Understanding these underlying factors helps us develop therapy and strategies that respond to the child's needs rather than simply focusing on changing the behaviour we can see.
What Happens During a Therapy Session?
Individual therapy sessions are shaped around each child's goals, developmental capacities, individual differences and interests.
Therapy may look like play, movement, problem-solving, creative activities or everyday tasks. While a session may look playful, the occupational therapist is carefully observing how the child regulates, engages, communicates, moves, plans, responds to challenges and interacts with others.
Using a DIR® approach, therapists often follow the child's interests and motivations to establish engagement and connection before introducing developmentally appropriate challenges.
For example, an activity may be adapted to create opportunities for a child to communicate an idea, solve a problem, manage an unexpected change, plan a sequence of movements or remain engaged through a longer interaction.
Our purpose-designed Lane Cove clinics provide access to specialised occupational therapy equipment and resources, allowing therapists to incorporate movement, sensory-motor experiences and other therapeutic activities according to each child's needs.
Individual Therapy Appointments
Individual occupational therapy appointments include 50 minutes of face-to-face therapy and 16 minutes of associated non-face-to-face work.
The associated time allows your child's occupational therapist to complete work directly related to the session, which may include preparation and planning, clinical documentation, resource development and communication relating to your child's therapy.
This helps ensure that therapy is thoughtfully planned, documented and responsive to your child's ongoing needs.
Working With Parents and Carers
Parents and carers are an important part of the therapeutic process and of a relationship-based approach.
Our goal is not for progress to happen only within the therapy room. By helping parents understand their child's developmental capacities and individual differences, we can work together to identify the types of interactions, environments and strategies that help their child feel regulated, connected and able to participate.
Depending on the child's age and therapy goals, this may involve discussing observations from the session, exploring strategies together, providing resources or considering how an approach could be incorporated naturally into everyday family life.
Over time, we aim to help parents and carers develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to support their child's development beyond the therapy room.
Working With Schools and Other Professionals
Where appropriate, and with parent or carer consent, our occupational therapists can collaborate with teachers, preschool educators and other professionals involved in a child's care.
Sharing an understanding of the child's developmental profile and individual differences can help the people supporting them respond more consistently across different environments.
We can also arrange school or preschool observations when seeing the child within their educational environment would provide useful information about their participation and support needs.
Read about School & Preschool Consultations →
When Might Individual Therapy Change?
A child's therapy needs can change as their development, confidence and capacities grow.
Individual therapy may remain the most appropriate format, or your occupational therapist may recommend opportunities to work alongside carefully matched peers through Social Setting Therapy or one of our school holiday Small Group Intensive Therapy Programs.
Working with peers can provide different developmental opportunities, particularly for extending engagement, reciprocal communication, flexibility, shared problem-solving and increasingly complex interactions.
These decisions are based on each child's individual goals, developmental profile and whether another therapeutic setting could provide meaningful opportunities to extend their development and participation.
Enquire About Individual Occupational Therapy
If you would like to know more about individual occupational therapy at Kids World, please contact our administration team.
We can discuss your child's needs, our current availability and the next steps for accessing occupational therapy at Kids World.