"Working with Morty has helped with mental and psychological wellbeing and physical development for gross and fine motor skills. He is a good role model and has encouraged independent and considerate behaviour. It has made home life smoother and happier for everyone in the house. He also has good ideas for other supports that we weren't aware of that we have now engaged to boost support for us. We highly recommend his services." Mrs B.
Why Clever Way Occupational Therapy?
Clever Way Occupational Therapy's mission is to enable people with, and without, disabilities, to enjoy greater quality of life, to reach their goals and to give them direction and purpose in their lives. We work with you to improve home independence, social and leisure pursuits, and workplace life.
When working with children, our approach is based on the understanding of child development and how we can best allow your child to grow and progress in a way that is natural and comfortable for them.
By using these natural pathways of development, and incorporating natural learning steps to develop functional skills, we can enable your child to move forward in their development and to learn skills and tasks they were not able to do previously.
We emphasise an approach that takes into account a sensory diet for children who have tendencies to be over or under stimulated.
We also use a cognitive behavioural approach in the understanding of how thoughts can affect feelings and actions. By practising enabling thoughts and by being aware of dis-enabling patterns, your child will feel much happier, be calmer and be more confident.
How We Can Help You
We have achieved great results when working with children and adults with:
Autism
ADHD
Intellectual Disability
Global Development Delay
Down Syndrome
Spinal Injury
Frontal Lobe Injury from motorbike/vehicle accidents
Cerebral Vascular Accident (Stroke)
General medical complaints leading to disability
We are registered to provide you with the following assistance, through the NDIS, as face-to-face, in home therapy in Perth South of the River:
OT Functional Capacity Assessments and reports for all ages
Home based therapy support sessions
Home modifications and personal mobility equipment recommendations and reports
Handwriting and fine motor skills
Emotional regulation and the prevention and treatment of "emotional meltdowns"
Treatment of sensory processing challenges
Gross motor development
Social skills development
We also work with private health insurers and/or private billing to provide OT for school students in the following areas:
Mild functional delay in the areas of academic learning, social skills and sporting performance
Students who are functioning below their potential
Challenges with study skills, focus and staying organised
Emotional regulation and problems with anxiety or anger
Making and keeping friends and social skills
Confidence and motivation to learn
Choosing another school, if needed
Exam preparation
We can also provide tele-health services Australia-wide for:
OT Functional Capacity Assessments and Reports for the NDIS
Understanding the Importance of Occupational Therapy
Gross Motor Skills and Balancing Skills
Gross motor movement is the movement of the whole body and it includes visual skills, as well as the ability of the inner ear to detect the movement of the head.
Balance includes the whole body balance and the ability to move the upper and lower body separately.
Gross motor and balance skills are needed when we play sports, participate in daily activities and anytime we move our body.
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are related to the way the hands are able to grasp objects such as a pencil, comb, brush, spoon or fork. Fine motor skills are used in feeding, grooming and handwriting, for example. They are also used when cooking and baking in activities such as opening a jar and kneading dough.
Visual Perception
Visual Perceptual skills can affect skills such as reading comprehension and speed, as well as handwriting, being able to play sports or ride a bike. Good visual perceptual skills are needed to be able to read body language. There are numerous reasons why visual perception is important in your child's life. Such reasons include:
Depth Perception - This is being able to see the world in 3D, which includes the distance of objects from you and from other objects. Depth perception is necessary to be able to see a ball as it flies past you, or the position of a table as you walk by. It also allows you to see a whiteboard/blackboard and distinguish how far away it is.
Position in Space - This is the ability to see objects as they are in your environment, It can also allow correct distinguishing of letters when read, and not reversing them or substituting them.
Visual Motor Integration - This is the ability to perceive the environment visually and translate this into movement with your hands and body to perform any skill that involves accurate body movements.
Colour Recognition - This is being able to distinguish the colour of things that are being seen. This can affect language development, such as being able to describe what it being seen and how it differs from other objects around it.
Some of the methods that OTs utilise to asses the eyes are:
Eye Tracking - This is the way the eyes move in relation to the head. This affects everything you choose to look at or not look at in your environment. It also affects your ability to follow an object as it moves within your visual field.
Eye Accomodation - This is the eye's ability to focus on objects as they change their distance away from you.
Muscular Skeletal Function
Postural abnormalities can cause issues with the efficiency of the messages the spine sends to, and receives from, the brain and body. This can result in muscle weakness. It can also affect the way the autonomic and sympathetic nervous systems function.
Optimal function of the muscular skeletal system can have other effects such as regular bowel movements and the optimal functioning of the nervous system as a whole.
Optimal muscular skeletal function can also affect the way adrenalin is used by the body in the fight or flight response when danger is sensed. This is the response that happens when you are stressed and have emotional meltdowns. It is also common when children have problems with emotional regulation.
Auditory Perception
Auditory perception is being able to distinguish sounds that can be heard, such as people's voices, and understand what they are saying. It is also being able to tune in on what they want to listen to or who they want to listen to in a busy environment such as shopping centres, classrooms, parties or at home. It also includes being able to tolerate loud noises such a police or ambulance sirens.
Auditory perception can affect your ability to learn at school through listening skills or being able to hear the whistle of an umpire on a sports field, or listen to a coach during the busy game.
What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational Therapy (OT) is a registered health profession that allows improved performance and health in the life areas of home independence, work life, and social and leisure pursuits.
Occupational Therapy is and evidence-based approach, founded in research, that can improve the health outcomes of people with disabilities and non-medical learning challenges.
The Benefits of the Clever Way Occupational Therapy Approach
Clever Way Occupational Therapy has a unique eclectic approach, which includes the following methods:
The evidence-based Sensory Integration therapy that was founded by Dr. Jean Ayres (American Occupational Therapist), whose research began in the 1970s, and is now being used by Occupational Therapists worldwide.
Clever Way Occupational Therapy is registered to use the evidence-based "Therapeutic Listening" approach, designed by Sheila Frick (American Occupational Therapist). This approach shows improvement in auditory perception (listening skills) and is also used by therapists worldwide.
Clever Way Occupational Therapy also uses a muscular-skeletal approach in the treatment of sensory motor challenges for children and adults, with and without, disabilities.