Information for Parents and Carers
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Contents Welcome .................................................................................................... 2 Our Mission ............................................................................................... 3 Our Team .................................................................................................... 4 Why Choose Us? ...................................................................................... 5 Our Commitments ................................................................................... 6 About Our Service ................................................................................... 7 Our Premises .................................................................................... 8
What is Occupational Therapy? ............................................................. 9 The Occupational Therapy Philosophy....................................... 10 Who Do We Work With? ..................................................................... 11 How We Will Work With Your Child .................................................. 13 Assessments .................................................................................... 14 Interventions ................................................................................... 15 Testimonials.............................................................................................. 17 Case Study................................................................................................ 19 Terminology ............................................................................................. 21 Sensory Integration ........................................................................ 22 The Senses ....................................................................................... 23 How to Find or Contact Us ................................................ Back Cover
We l c o m e !
Thank you for choosing POTS! POTS is a private paediatic occupational therapy service for children who are struggling with play, school activities, and/or self help skills due to sensory processing difficulties. Our aim is to provide a service that addresses the individual needs of each child, and tailor-made programmes and strategies are offered. Each child follows a set of individualised goals and during the occupational therapy process we offer parents and children the support they need. Intervention is provided to children by dedicated and qualified staff within a fun environment.
The child’s goal can be simply the ability to engage in a game, to write neater, or to manage buttons; ultimately the most important thing is that each child attending POTS improves developmentally and manages to experience success. We strongly believe that every child can improve if given the “just right� challenge and opportunities!
Josette Sammut Josette Sammut, Founder BSc (Hons), MEd (Autism) Senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist, P.O.T.S. (Paediatric Occupational Therapy Services)
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Our Mission
We strive to provide the highest quality, evidence based Occupational Therapy service for every child. We provide a range of assessment and intervention services tailored to the needs of you and your children, so that they can grow, thrive, and live life to the best of their ability. Our main aim is to address developmental and sensory processing difficulties in order to help each child become more independent and successful in life.
O u r Te a m
Our team of qualified Occupational Therapists are all registered practitioners with the Council for Professionals Complementary to Medicine. Our therapists are dedicated, professional, passionate, and together have many years of experience in working with children. Our therapists use their professional knowledge, skill, and creativity to provide the best outcomes for your child. We also provide learning opportunities for students from around the world. As well as providing a valuable learning experience for them, we believe that this also provides a benefit to our service, as we are constantly exposed to new ideas and new energy.
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Why C h o o s e Us?
A commitment to using the most up-to-
date evidence based practice A goal-focused attitude. All of our work is
motivated towards practical, functional goals Qualified,
committed, occupational therapists
Flexible
and
appointment times, evenings and on Saturdays
passionate including
Assessments and interventions carried out
in Maltese or English A passion for quality, integrity, and the best
outcome for every child A dedication to respecting confidentiality
Our C o m m i t m e n t s
We pledge that your child will be treated with the respect, encouragement, and expert treatment that they deserve. Our reports will be of the highest quality, and we will always answer any questions you may have about them. We will keep you informed of any changes that need to made to your child’s sessions, and the reasons for this. Assessment and evaluation is continuous, and we are always looking for ways to improve the service we are providing for your child. Your child will be at the centre of any decisions we make. We will provide you with recommendations of things that will be beneficial for your child. In return, we ask that you follow these recommendations between sessions so that your child has as many opportunities for progress as possible.
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About Our Service
POTS provides a comprehensive service, using a range of assessments, clinical observations, and interviews to guide us in designing and providing the best possible approach to help your child. As well as working with your child, we also provide training and workshops for parents, carers, and teachers.
We can also recommend and supply a range of adaptive and sensory equipment so that you can have what you need at home.
For More Information‌ Appointments for assessment: appointments@potsmalta.com Events and workshops: events@potsmalta.com General Enquiries and products: info@potsmalta.com
Our Premises
Our purpose-built premises are equipped with high-quality, specialist equipment to allow us to work effectively with your child. We have a number of dedicated areas that can be adapted according to your child’s goals. We have a waiting area where you can enjoy a hot drink, and we provide booths where you will be able to observe your child’s sessions. Our premises are split over different floors, and are accessible for all, including a fully accessible toilet, and a lift. Everything is constructed according to National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD) standards.
Please see the back cover of this booklet for a map of our location.
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What Is Occupational Therapy? Occupational Therapists, sometimes called OTs, are professionals who help people to get better at the things they do every day. They do this in a number of ways, for example by:
Assessing function
Teaching new skills
Recommending and providing equipment
Finding new ways to do things
Adapting the environment
Here at POTS we work with children to help them become more independent in their daily occupations. Our work is based on the idea that by tackling the roots of a problem, your child will better equipped to succeed in all areas of their life.
The Occupational Therapy Philosophy
Person Centred Occupational Therapy is not something that is done to your child, it is something done with them. If therapy is tailored to their interests and needs, then they will have more motivation to take part. This means listening to them, as well as you as a family, to determine the right course of action.
Holistic We will work with your child in a way that takes into account everything that makes them unique, including environmental, social, physical, and psychological factors. This will allow us to work with them so they can learn to utilise their strengths to help overcome their difficulties
Occupationally Focused Rather than focusing purely on a diagnosis or a difficulty, we will work to understand and work with your child in the context of the things that they do. The goals that we set will be functional and practical to enable them to perform to the best of their ability in their day-to-day lives.
At POTS we are passionate about promoting occupational therapy, its philosophy, and its benefits, to the people who use our service, the other professionals that we work with, and with the wider world.
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W h o D o We Wo r k W i t h ?
The simple answer is that we can work with all children. Some of the areas of difficulty that we can help include:
Difficulty with concentration or attention Fine motor skills, such as handwriting or tying shoes Gross motor skills, such as walking, running, and jumping Sensitivity to touch, sound, or other sensory input Difficulties with posture and balance Developmental delay
We will offer advice and support for you as parents or carers by providing feedback after every session with your child. We will meet with you before your child begins sessions with us to provide detailed feedback on our assessments. We will also meet with you on completion of your child’s programme to discuss their progress and provide any information you might need for the future.
W h o D o We Wo r k W i t h ? Your child does not need a specific diagnosis to access our service. Our approach can be tailored to all children, including those with a diagnosis of
Autism Spectrum Conditions Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)/Dyspraxia Dyslexia Down Syndrome
We work closely with other professionals, including teachers, LSAs, speech and language therapists, ABA therapists, and anyone else who is involved in the support of your child. We can provide recommendations to these other professionals, and will listen to recommendations from them. With your permission, we will make our reports available to any other professionals who may need them. We are also available to attend multi-disciplinary meetings to discuss your child’s needs.
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How Will We Work With Your Child?
Following referral we will work through some assessments with your child to determine the best course of action. These assessments will be tailored to the difficulties that your child is experiencing. Full written reports of all assessments can be made available to you. After an assessment session, we will arrange to meet with you to discuss our recommendations, and answer any questions you may have. We can then offer a programme of intervention that is suited to your child, their strengths, needs, and unique abilities. After agreeing on a suitable programme with you, we would usually meet with your child for a session once per week. This session lasts for one hour, and includes 50 minutes spent with your child, and 10 minutes feeding back to you. The final session of any programme of intervention will be devoted to providing you with detailed feedback on your child’s progress. This will be based upon any outcome measures used by the therapist, who will provide you with a written report summarising the results of our intervention.
Assessments
We will assess your child using a combination of standardised and non-standardised assessments, as well as our expert observations during the assessment process. All assessments used have been chosen due to their high quality and evidence base, and aim to assess fine and gross motor skills, sensory processing and regulation, visual-motor integration, and visual processing.
We conduct a range of assessments approved by MATSEC to provide information on whether your child requires examination access arrangements, such as increased support or extra time in exams.
We are also able to conduct the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), the gold standard diagnostic assessment for autism.
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Interventions
Depending on your child’s needs we will design a programme that may include intervention in the following areas: Sensory Motor These are the skills that help us to translate sensory input into action. Intervention in this area can help with problems in balance, coordination, attention, posture, and a range of other skills. Fine Motor Fine motor skills allow us to write neatly, use cutlery, do up buttons, and assist with a wide range of activities of daily living. Fine motor intervention might focus on handwriting, on daily living skills, or on a combination of the two.
Visual Perception Being able to make sense of what we see is important for almost all of the things we do. Visual perception and visual motor integration are needed for many of the fine and gross motor skills that we use all the time. Energy Level Regulation We offer the The Alert ProgramÂŽ which teaches your child to recognise when they are over or under aroused, and to manage their energy levels using sensory techniques. This aids them in focus and attention.
Interventions
By taking a sensory integration approach, we aim to help your child build the foundations required for successful development in all areas. Your child’s progress will be constantly evaluated throughout the course of the intervention, and sessions will be adapted accordingly if needed. Feedback will be provided to you every week.
Halfway through the intervention, your therapist will meet with a colleague to discuss your child’s progress and their goals. This is to ensure that we are providing the best possible sessions for you child.
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Te s t i m o n i a l s We always want to hear what people who use our service think. Here is a sample of what parents and carers are saying about us...
Clare
Just a humble gesture of gratitude for all you and your team are doing for Simon. The road may be very long but he is showing signs of progress thanks to you.
Ellie has improved in leaps and bounds... even academically! Ellie's summer tutor has also seen a massive improvement. With regards to spelling she now just practices once and remembers it... something which she struggled with before! Her reading has also massively improved. I am over joyed and couldn't be more proud.
Hermann and Mary Grace (and Simon too!)
Te s t i m o n i a l s
I am most grateful to all of you for your team-work, support and interest in helping Julia. Your dedication helps to ease off the heartache and fear I encounter every day as I witness Julia’s problem and the difficulties she is facing because of her condition.
Sharon
Paula
Just wanted to tell you what exceptional improvement Tiffany has made with your help. Apart from the fact that Tiffany loves working with the therapist, she is exceptional and has helped Tiffany so much. Thanks again.
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Case Study
Sarah (name changed) was seen by a therapist at POTS for sessions over 12 weeks. The assessments conducted revealed that she has difficulties in processing vestibular and proprioceptive input. Because of this, she showed a tendency to seek opportunities for these, which was having an effect on her attention. She was also showing difficulties with her posture and endurance, and sometimes struggled to be aware of personal boundaries. Over the 12 weeks, Sarah’s occupational therapist focused on sensory motor activities to help her to regulate her sensory input. This included using activities such as climbing ladders, using swings, and completing obstacle courses. These activities were chosen to allow Sarah the opportunity to provide vestibular and proprioceptive input while developing skills relating to balance, postural control, and praxis (for an explanation of some of these terms, please see page 23 onwards). A school visit was carried out during the intervention, and it was noted that Sarah had difficulties with time management. Opportunities to work on this were incorporated into her intervention plan.
Case Study
By the end of the programme, Sarah showed significant improvement in the following areas:
Sarah’s ability to regulate sensory input was increased
Her ability to balance in different positions, with eyes both open and closed, showed great improvement
Her postural control and strength, for example when supporting herself in the wheelbarrow position, was much better
Her ability to plan and carry out tasks (praxis) improved, showing a decreased need to rely on assistance
Endurance improved markedly, and her ability to confidently use equipment such as rope ladders increased
Time limits were introduced for certain tasks, and Sarah showed an increased awareness of how to manage her time for these
Being able to regulate her senses allows Sarah to concentrate more in the classroom. Her increased postural control, balance, and endurance, allow her to engage in sporting activities and play with others more confidently. By the end of the programme Sarah showed more awareness of personal space and time management, allowing her to engage in activities more independently, both in school and at home.
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Te r m i n o l o g y We understand that sometimes the terminology used by therapists can be technical. We will always discuss our results and recommendations with you in clear language, and will be happy to answer any questions you may have. However, if you are interested in finding out more about some of the terms we use, we have provided a brief summary here. It is not essential for you to study the information on the following pages, but it is provided to give you an idea of the theory behind what we do at POTS. It is not intended to be a definitive explanation of the theory behind what we do, but is a good starting point. Please speak to your occupational therapist if you have further questions. If you would like further information, we have suggested some resources below:
Sensory Integration Sensory integration is the primary approach used at POTS. It was developed by Anna Jean Ayres, a psychologist and occupational therapist. Ayres combined her knowledge of neurology from her psychology background with her concerns for practical, everyday functioning from occupational therapy.
Sensory integration refers to how the brain takes information about the body and its environment, obtained through the senses, and organises this information to perform actions and to engage with the world.
If there is a problem with how the brain integrates sensory information then this can have an effect on development. Children use their senses to learn about the world around them. We can see this in babies who start to use their hands and mouths to explore objects near to them. Older children climb, swing, run, and observe their environment. To do these kinds of things successfully, the brain must process a huge amount of sensory information to decide how to act.
Children naturally seek challenges that are ‘just right’ - something that is achievable, but requires effort. If a child has difficulty in integrating information from one or more of the senses, they may avoid certain challenges .This means that they are not receiving the ‘just right’ challenges that are necessary for the brain and body to develop and learn new skills.
A sensory integration approach aims to help children with such difficulties by providing them with appropriate sensory input in a way that will help them to develop.
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The Senses Most of us are familiar with the 5 senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Within sensory integration there are 2 other senses that are extremely important: proprioception and the vestibular sense. Proprioception is our brain’s awareness of where all of the parts of the body are, and how much force is being applied to them or by them. Proprioception is what allows us to touch our nose with our finger, even if our eyes are closed. It is vital for the coordination of the different body parts for all kinds of movement. The vestibular sense is our sense of gravity and balance. It allows us to know if we are moving forwards or backwards, upside down, or spinning around. The vestibular system helps our eyes to remain focused on something when we are moving, and keeps us upright when we are walking. These 2 senses, along with the sense of touch, are considered the foundations for our development. A newborn child is comforted by being rocked (vestibular input), or cuddled (tactile and proprioceptive input). The integration of these sense is what allows the child to develop more complex reactions to its environment as it matures.
For this reason, many interventions within sensory integration involve providing input for these senses. They are the scaffolding that allow further development to happen.
O t h e r Te r m s Praxis Praxis is the ability to process, plan, and execute coordinated movement.. It has three components - knowing what to do (ideation), directing and organising the movement (motor planning), and carrying out the action (execution). Dyspraxia refers to a developmentally based difficulty with praxis that can be the result of a variety of causes. One of these causes is poor sensory integration. A difficulty with praxis does not necessarily mean a diagnosis of dyspraxia. Sensory Modulation This refers to the brain’s ability to filter sensory input appropriately. Modulation is what allows us to ‘tune out’ background noise when we are concentrating on something, for example. People who have difficulties with sensory modulation may find certain sensory input overwhelming, or may be under responsive to certain things. Standardised Assessment If an assessment is standardised, it means that it has been tested on a large group of people,. This means that results can be compared to other people’s. An IQ test is an example of a standardised assessment - in this test, a score of 100 is average, meaning that 50% of people performed better, and 50% of people performed worse.
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How to Find or Contact Us
We are easy to get to by car, or by bus. You can find us at 200 TRIQ SAN BASTJAN, QORMI, QRM2339
Our contact details:
7769 1442 info@potsmalta.com For general enquiries - for other matters, please see page 7.
www.potsmalta.com