Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy

My OT helps me at school and at home.

Hannah aged 12

Occupational Therapy

St Mary's aims to assist young people to develop skills for life in the school and college and in everyday life.

Full participation requires a young person to be able to engage in a variety of functional tasks, such as manipulating books and tools for writing, moving about the Trust and addressing personal needs independently. Occupational Therapy works to minimise or compensate for an individual's functional limitations.

All young people are assessed for their needs and capabilities across the waking curriculum. This is an ongoing process, following initial admission, to ensure a young person's changing abilities are monitored and progressed. Details for assessment are taken from a range of sources:

• Direct interaction with the young person
• Discussion with parents
• Liaison with other professionals
• Observation of the individual within functional contexts (e.g. classroom, living area)
• Standardised tests

Information gathered will be shared with other professionals, and with the parents, in order to clarify the young person's needs. The Occupational Therapist may then be involved in the following aspects of intervention: 

• Addressing the underlying skill difficulties, including sensory, perceptual and motor deficits
• Sensory Integration Therapy, aiming to enhance the young person's ability to process sensory information and motor planning in order to function effectively
• Advice on the use of compensatory strategies and adaptive devices, such as special seating, writing tools, computer assessment and bathing equipment
• Direct training in functional skills, e.g. self-care skills such as dressing
• Hand Therapy including advice and management of hand and arm splints

Occupational Therapy aims to improve a young person's ability to be independent across a range of activities and environments.                          

                                                        

The exact nature and amount of therapy provided will depend on the young person's needs. Treatment may comprise:

• Direct individual or group sessions
• Use of programmes and intervention in different settings to integrate treatment activities into real life environments
• Regular review or monitoring of the person's progress

At St Mary's, therapy - in all its forms - aims to meet the challenge of combining learning with treatment to facilitate independence skills in education and care.   To this end, fully qualified and experienced therapists from all disciplines work closely together and with other staff groups to maximise carry-over and reinforce programmes of therapy.

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapists assist our young people with physical difficulties to attain their maximum motor potential with a strong emphasis on function and independence.

Initially, a formal baseline assessment and level of therapy input is determined and delivered according to identified needs. All input is then goal directed and individually tailored to maximise physical potential. There is also a strong emphasis on prevention of problems which may affect   young people in adult life and inhibit their independence in the community. Intervention and progress are regularly re-assessed, documented and fedback to the individual and carers at formal and informal meetings.

There is an eclectic approach to physiotherapy so that the best and most appropriate techniques can be utilised.  Treatment sessions can be individual, paired or group and take place in a wide variety of settings inside and outside the classroom.

Physiotherapy sessions are devised to be an enjoyable experience to maximise motivation and to achieve individual targets. Regular screening is used to identify developing spinal, gait or foot problems. Potential concerns are then identified at an early stage and appropriate interventions can be planned with carers. Interventions utilised in Physiotherapy include:

• Neurodevelopment strategies
• Sensory Integration therapy
• Hydrotherapy
• Posture Care
• Cardio-vascular fitness
• Gait and balance assessment and training

The physiotherapists and occupational therapists also liaise with consultants and orthotics services to facilitate assessment and intervention for young people who have complex motor needs. The local orthopaedic consultant  visits the school twice yearly to enable parents and staff to discuss individual needs.