A screening is short, low cost and identifies if your child has developed the skills needed for successful learning. Every child is born with a cognitive potential however it’s their sensory motor development that is important to achieve their potential. The earlier a gap in your child’s development is identified the earlier it can be addressed and developed. Screenings can be done from age 4 years and onwards. Identifying any delay in your child’s development at age 4 can prevent heartache when they are older and have academic challenges which overflows into emotional and behavioral challenges. Screenings are for every child as the delayed development is not obvious. A child who is having obvious challenges with development and learning need an assessment. An assessment is more detailed than a screening and will provide a baseline for their development , indicate what help they require and is important for measuring progress. 

A child has a lot of rapid development in the first 4 years. A baby doubles the size of their brain in the first year of life. The optimum window for speech development is the first 4 years of life. Early intervention to support your child’s development is critical for a positive outcome. Getting advice from an occupational therapist and or a speech therapist  is better than waiting and hoping. Your child may just need some additional support and the earlier you start the better the outcome. A child has a blueprint to be developed, every child is born with a potential, with the right input you can achieve a great outcome.

Speech delay in a child is a symptom that there is a delayed development in your child’s sensory motor system. Speech delay is not the problem it is a symptom of a developmental delay. How do children develop speech? Firstly can they hear? Check their hearing. Deaf children cant talk. Maybe they can hear but the sound is not getting into the brain. You can check with a test from the ENT dept. The mouth is a muscle, How is your child’s motor skills? Can he chew, can he blow bubbles? The ability to move and control your mouth depends on your ability to feel it from the skin. If your child is not feeling his mouth properly he will struggle to plan his movements to create sounds words and sentences. Speech development comes from the sensory motor development of the body. From the sound going in the ear to be processed and expressed motorically from the mouth in a sequence is a complex process requiring the development of the ear and mouth structures. Hence the need to use sensory integration through play to develop these structures and processes.

A child’s ability to learn in school is not directly related to their IQ score. Every child is born with an IQ potential however if their sensory motor system is not developing as expected your child may struggle with reading, writing, paying attention for example. A student was referred  with an IQ of 141(100 is average) who could not write and was clumsy and unco-ordinated. His sensory motor system was not developing efficiently. Using sensory integration therapy he was able to write and play sport well.

If playing with a child solved every child’s developmental or learning challenges every child would  sort their own developmental challenges without any help from an Occupational therapist. ‘Just Playing’ looks easy however there is a lot more to it than it looks.  An Occupational therapist using a sensory integration framework combines this neuroscience with the psychotherapeutic approach of non directive play therapy. Let me unpack that in straightforward terms. Neuroscience is how the human body develops ie the nuts and bolts of the sensory motor system. Non directive play therapy is how the therapy is delivered. A Sensory Integration play room is a place with specific equipment where a child can explore without demands or judgement. The child takes the lead. The therapist follows and facilitates the play. Children need to feel safe to explore and play without judgement. Observing what a child wants to play with communicates to us what they need to develop and equally what a child ignores tells us what they have not yet developed. Play is a powerful way for children to communicate their needs. Facilitating a child exploring and succeeding with their play is called the just right challenge and gives children the confidence to explore and develop the skills needed for learning. Assessing the child’s sensory motor developmental needs combined with analyzing their play to achieve their developmental goals is a science and an art. The therapist’s expertise along with a powerful medium of play develops a child’s skills for learning. 

Play is a powerful way to support a child’s physical, emotional and cognitive development