Explainer – What is an occupational therapist? — Transcript

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1. 0:00Dino: Hi, I'm Dino. And I'm an occupational therapist or what
2. 0:03some people refer to as an OT.
3. 0:07Host: What is an occupational therapist (OT)?
4. 0:11Dino: An Occupational therapist is somebody who helps people of all ages achieve
5. 0:15the things that they want to do in their daily life. Occupational therapists
6. 0:19work with people across the lifespan. I'm an occupational
7. 0:22therapist who works with children up until 18 years
8. 0:25of age.
9. 0:27Host: What can I expect if my child sees an OT?
10. 0:30Dino: When children and parents come to see me they can expect that I'll spend
11. 0:33some time getting to know them. I'll talk to the parents about what their
12. 0:37concerns are for their child and then I'll take some time to get to know
13. 0:40your child and making them feel comfortable in the space. So when
14. 0:43we start the assessment process, there are various forms
15. 0:46of assessments that were used some of them are standardised and they look
16. 0:49a little bit more like activities that we conduct at a
17. 0:52table and at times we use play play can be
18. 0:55a very powerful tool in determining how to support your child as an occupational therapist who specializes in sensory play when
19. 1:02your child comes to see me we're going to have fun. That means
20. 1:05we're going to play with lots of balls lots of swings. We're going
21. 1:08to climb we're gonna jump although might look like I'm playing with
22. 1:11your child and just looking at some of their motor skills. I'm also looking at how they interact how they communicate how they
23. 1:18problem solve. And also what they're confidence is like there's also lots of opportunity for the parents to ask questions or
24. 1:24to comment and I can also provide them with some information during that consultation.
25. 1:30Well generally in this process we are working together to determine does this child require clinic-based Therapy
26. 1:37Services are the community programs that they might benefit from engaging in or do they require some just home activities
27. 1:44that will support their development part of the assessment process is also to understand whether or not your child might benefit from seeing another
28. 1:50health professional such as a speech pathologists psychologists or even a pediatrician, how can
29. 1:56we access an OT?
30. 1:58To see an occupational therapist people can self-refer meaning they can call up and make an appointment themselves often a
31. 2:05pediatrician or a GP even a speech
32. 2:08pathologist or psychologists can refer on to an occupational therapist for
33. 2:12an assessment and sometimes teachers in schools or preschools will often also refer to an OT for an assessment a visit
34. 2:19to an occupational therapist can be supported by Medicare ndis or Private health insurance often. I
35. 2:25would encourage people to ask the receptionist when they make an appointment what concessions they might be eligible for are there
36. 2:33common misconceptions about Otis?
37. 2:35There are a few common misconceptions about an occupational therapist one is that we find people jobs and although
38. 2:42there is the Word occupation in our description. It's not what we do. The other is that we are physiotherapists and
39. 2:50whilst we highly value physiotherapists. Our role is a little bit different. How can
40. 2:56I get the most out of my visit to an OT in order
41. 2:59to get the most out of your time with an occupational therapist think about bringing reports letters having emails
42. 3:05from other health professionals even information provided by
43. 3:09teachers is really supportive in that collaborative process in understanding your child come prepared have questions and ask
44. 3:16them prior to via email or bring questions on the day the assessment process can take up to two
45. 3:22hours. So bring a drink bottle. We're comfortable clothing and bring a snack following an assessment and if
46. 3:28therapy is recommended it's really important to understand that as a parent your role in your child therapy is
47. 3:36really important and often will optimize their outcomes a final word as an occupational
48. 3:42therapist. I want you to understand that you are the expert when it comes to your child and what we understand that the
49. 3:48journey has been difficult, but we're going to be there with you
50. 3:51every step of the way.