It can be difficult to understand the difference between what a pediatric OT and  pediatric PT might do in a clinical enviroinment.  Pediatric PT's support children in their attainment of gross motor skills and functional mobility. Strength, balance, coordination and motor planning (praxis) are all necessary skills for a child to have before they can achieve developmental milestones from infancy through adolescence. PT's support children with skills including but not limited to rolling, crawling, cruising, sitting, walking, running, climbing, jumping. They will often be involved in intervention for children that have torticolis, are toe walking, have low/high muscle tone, decreased endurance, are clumsy or trip and fall often or have difficulty with daily living skills such as walking, ascending or descending stairs, or engaging in age appropriate athletics.

​

The word occupation is defined as a "JOB OR PROFESSION" and childrens primary jobs are to play, learn and socialize, but sometimes, success in one or more of these areas does not come naturally for a child. Occupational Therapists help children succeed in all of their occupations by helping to identify what might be impacting their success or independence while encouraging development of age appropriate skills and the confidence to succeed across all environments. Pediatric OT's incorporate play into all of our sessions because play is the most important occupation of all! 

We use the foundation of play to help children reach their highest potential in the areas of Self Care, Motor Coordination, Sensory Processing,Self Regulation, Feeding/Oral Motor Function, Visual Perception/Visual Motor Skills, Socialization.