Pediatric occupational therapists use meaningful activities as a means to improve the physical and mental health/well-being of children and young people, and to help them participate in the actions they need or want to do. The therapist in the intervention plan ;
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Education,
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Play,
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Free time (leisure),
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Social situations,
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Activities of daily living (eating, dressing, hygiene... ),
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Instrumental activities of daily living (meal preparation, shopping),
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Sleep,
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Resting,
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Focuses on participation in the areas of work (productivity).
These are children's daily life experiences. their usual occupations. Occlusions (the basis for maintaining an individual's well-being) are used to identify factors (sensory, motor, cognitive, social and emotional) that may limit or facilitate successful participation in a variety of settings, such as school, home, and community. It is important to intervene in order to encourage successful performance in social and emotional areas, and to use adaptive strategies by considering the wishes and needs of the child in order to be active. For example, being independent in this area for a child who has difficulty in taking a bath in daily life; sensory processing, mental health, cognitive performance, motor skills, social emotional learning capacity and the child's perception of individual differences; A person-centered therapy process should be determined. is defined as. Strategies that specifically encourage social and emotional learning help children recognize and manage emotions, think about their emotions and how they should act, and regulate behavior based on thoughtful decision making. Therefore, creating a suitable ground for achieving and protecting the goals of "maximum well-being" and "independence", which form the basis of occupational therapy in daily life, possible through emotional and behavioral learning. Occupational therapists have an important role in promoting social-emotional learning in universal, targeted or intensive interventions. Occupational therapists, who have specialized knowledge of the interaction of the child's contextual, psychosocial and performance factors, support participation in the school environment or social field by gaining social emotional learning skills. With children, teachers, psychologists, and occupational therapists can work together to instill social-emotional learning strategies in children. For example, observing that virtual, physical or artistic activities at school affect social-emotional learning, occupational therapists can collaborate with psychologists to learn students' social-emotional skills and raise awareness of families; can help teachers change and adapt teaching materials and environmental conditions. Again using the school example, occupational therapists can help school staff create opportunities for social-emotional learning during non-teaching times (recess, lunch breaks, after-school activity or courses).
Europe and the role of occupational therapy in social and emotional learning has been demonstrated by many studies conducted in schools in the USA; It was determined that occupational therapy intervention made students independent and increased the potential to reach more people at school rather than one-to-one therapy intervention. Unfortunately, the lack of school employment of occupational therapists in our country prevents us from thinking more deeply and socially on this example. However, studies have shown that comprehensive assessments in occupational therapy, social emotional thinking at school and in life increase academic success, help students develop self-management and self-control, improve relationships in school and society, reduce conflict between students, improve classroom management of teachers, and help young people to be healthier/successful. proven.
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