Occupational Therapy Assessment & Comprehensive Report
A comprehensive occupational therapy assessment can help families better understand their child's individual developmental profile, including the strengths they bring to everyday activities and the factors that may be making participation more challenging.
At Kids World Paediatric Therapy, we provide therapy using the DIR® model (Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based). This framework also guides our assessment process, helping us understand how a child’s developmental capacities, individual processing differences and relationships work together to influence their ability to engage, communicate, learn and participate in everyday life.
The assessment can be completed with or without a comprehensive written report, depending on your family's needs.
What Does the Assessment Involve?
The assessment appointment allows approximately one hour for assessment with your child, followed by up to one hour for discussion and verbal feedback with parents or carers.
During the assessment, the occupational therapist observes your child across a range of activities and interactions. An important part of this involves observing your child's interactions with their parent or caregiver. Through play and shared activities, the therapist can explore how your child engages, communicates, responds to support and uses relationships to help them participate, regulate and problem-solve.
The occupational therapist will also explore areas including:
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Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities (FEDCs)
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Sensory modulation and regulation
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Sensory discrimination
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Motor planning and praxis
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Movement and coordination
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Engagement and participation
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Emotional regulation
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Play and interaction
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Your child's individual strengths and interests
The assessment process is adapted to your child's age, developmental profile and individual needs.
Understanding Functional Emotional Development
The DIR® model considers a child's Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities, often referred to as FEDCs.
These capacities help us understand how a child uses their emotional experiences and relationships to organise their development. Rather than being a checklist of skills a child should achieve at a particular age, they help us understand how a child is currently able to engage with other people, communicate, think, problem-solve and participate.
During the assessment, your occupational therapist may consider your child's capacity to:
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Become calm, regulated and interested in the world around them
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Engage and connect with others
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Participate in purposeful back-and-forth communication
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Develop increasingly complex shared interactions and problem-solving
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Create and communicate ideas through play and interaction
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Connect ideas logically and emotionally
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Develop increasingly complex thinking, reflection and understanding
Children may demonstrate different capacities depending on the environment, activity, relationship and level of support available to them. Understanding this helps us identify not only where a child may be experiencing difficulty, but also the conditions and relationships that help them participate at their best.
Understanding Individual Differences
The "I" in DIR® refers to the individual differences that influence how each child experiences and responds to the world.
This includes the way a child processes sensory information, regulates their body and emotions, plans and coordinates movement, communicates and responds to different environments.
For example, something that appears to be a difficulty with attention, behaviour or participation may be influenced by sensory processing, motor planning, emotional regulation, the demands of the environment or a combination of factors.
Understanding these underlying differences helps us move beyond simply describing what a child is doing and begin to understand why it may be happening.
The Importance of Relationships
The "R" in DIR® recognises the central role relationships play in development.
This is why observing your child interacting with you or another familiar caregiver is an important part of our assessment.
We consider how your child uses relationships to support regulation, engagement, communication, exploration and problem-solving, as well as the types of interactions that help them feel safe, connected and able to participate.
This information can also help parents and carers understand how everyday interactions and relationships can support their child's ongoing development.
Verbal Feedback and Discussion
Following the assessment, up to one hour is set aside for discussion and verbal feedback with parents or carers.
Your occupational therapist will talk through their observations and help you understand your child's developmental profile, including their strengths, Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities and individual sensory and motor processing differences.
This is an important part of the assessment process. It provides time to discuss what you are seeing at home and in other environments, ask questions and consider the factors that may be contributing to your child's challenges.
Together, you and the therapist can begin identifying priorities and practical strategies to support your child's participation and development.
Comprehensive Written Report
Families can choose to have a comprehensive written report prepared following the assessment.
The report brings together the information gathered during the assessment and provides a detailed explanation of your child's occupational therapy profile. This may include their Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities, individual sensory and motor processing differences, strengths, areas requiring support and recommendations.
A written report can be particularly useful when information needs to be shared with other people supporting your child, such as:
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Preschool or school educators
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Paediatricians and GPs
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Psychologists
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Speech pathologists
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Other allied health professionals
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Other relevant services
Having this information documented can help the people involved in your child's care develop a more consistent understanding of their strengths, needs and the approaches that may best support them.
Do I Need a Written Report?
Not every family requires a comprehensive written report.
If the primary purpose of the assessment is to better understand your child's needs and guide occupational therapy, you may choose to have the assessment and verbal feedback without the additional report.
A comprehensive report may be particularly valuable when assessment findings and recommendations need to be communicated to educators, medical practitioners or other professionals.
Our team can discuss the options with you so you can decide what is appropriate for your circumstances.
What Happens After the Assessment?
The assessment helps us develop a clearer understanding of your child's strengths, developmental capacities, individual differences and the areas that are most important to your child and family.
Recommendations are individualised and may include occupational therapy, strategies for home or educational environments, collaboration with other professionals or further assessment where appropriate.
Where ongoing occupational therapy is recommended, the information gathered during the assessment helps guide meaningful, individualised therapy goals and intervention.
Occupational Therapy Assessment or Functional Capacity Assessment?
A comprehensive occupational therapy assessment is different from a Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA).
Our occupational therapy assessment focuses on understanding your child's developmental and individual processing profile, including their Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities, sensory processing, regulation and motor planning, to guide therapy and practical recommendations.
A Functional Capacity Assessment has a different purpose. It considers how a person's disability affects their functioning and participation across everyday life and may be used to inform NDIS planning, supports and funding decisions.
Read about Functional Capacity Assessments →
Enquire About an Occupational Therapy Assessment
If you would like to discuss whether a comprehensive occupational therapy assessment would be appropriate for your child, please contact our administration team.
We can explain the assessment process, the option of adding a comprehensive written report and the next steps for arranging an appointment.