Occupational Therapy in Malta - WonderKids Paediatric Centre

Paediatric Occupational therapy focuses on helping your child achieve independence in various areas of their lives such as writing, participation in sports, dressing, eating and toilet training. Occupational Therapy offers your child positive, fun activities to improve their cognitive, physical, and motor skills and enhance their self-esteem and sense of accomplishment. The WonderKids Centre is based in Malta and has a team of Occupational therapists working with children to optimise your child’s occupational performance, and ability to function in their daily lives. Children have many important which we need to nurture as they form an important foundation for the roles they will take on as adults. Sensory Integration is an approach to therapy, which the specialised therapists at WonderKids may recommend. We highly recommend you visit this occupational therapy Blog for tips and recommendations on Occupational Therapy for Children.

Occupational therapy at WonderKids therapeutic goals include:

Play, including imaginative and structured play
Self-care which includes the activities of daily living such as feeding, toileting, dressing, grooming, mobility, getting organised for the day ahead
Education and Learning which requires skills in many areas including attention and concentration, organisation and planning, fine and gross motor skills, emotional regulation and social skills, body awareness and sensory behaviour (touch, sound, taste, smell, vision, balance, motor planning)

Occupational therapy intervention at WonderKids, Malta addresses:

Mechanical functions (posture, seating, muscle tone and pencil grip)
Sensory abilities (coordination, sensory processing, body awareness, balance, motor planning, visual perceptual ability ie the ability to recognise, differentiate and attach meaning to the information we see in the environment, reactions to sensations such as sound, taste, smell, vision)
Cognitive functions (attention, memory, organisation and planning)
Personal abilities (motivation, confidence, enjoyment and perseverance)
Social abilities (friendship, social participation and dealing with feelings and new situations)

Occupational therapy intervention from our Malta Clinic addresses the skills that your child is having difficulty with:

Occupational Therapists are trained in children’s development and have experience in observing any difficulties in these areas. They also trained to analyse and breakdown activities to help children achieve the skills.

Occupational Therapy Assessment

The use of various specialist assessments allow the Occupational therapist to evaluate your child’s strengths and areas of difficulty. This is necessary in order to advise on the most appropriate therapy strategies. Your input is an important part of the assessment.

The assessment session will last up to 1 hour depending on your child’s age and needs. The choice of standardised assessments used will depend upon your child’s needs to assess the following skills:

Following assessment, the therapist will compile a comprehensive report which is inclusive of the standardised scores, a written narrative of the assessment findings and their impact on your child’s development. The report will include recommendations that can be put into place at home and nursery/school which will promote your child’s strengths and support them to develop their areas of need as well as recommendations for therapeutic intervention as required. Our Occupational Therapist at WonderKids will discuss the findings with you, following which therapy goals will be agreed. The therapist might indicate the need for specialised therapy input such as Ayres Sensory Integration which is also offered at WonderKids Centre.

Individual Therapy sessions

The therapy sessions are carried out with one of our state registered Occupational Therapists at WonderKids Centre. Your child will be followed for a block of therapy depending on his needs. The frequency of sessions also depends on your child’s needs. Following the block of sessions, your child will be reassessed after which further sessions can be considered according to the progress made.

Recommendations for home and school

Parents will be given guidance on suitable activities to engage the child in at home between therapy sessions. The therapist can also make a school visit as required, to advise teachers on any suitable adaptions to the environment or specific teaching strategies/ activities the child would benefit from.

Occupational Therapy Services at WonderKids, Paediatric Centre Malta

Our Premises

WonderKids premises are highly equipped and designed with the latest equipment to provide our clients and their families with the best possible therapeutic outcome.