Occupational Therapy Evaluation in Miami

The Purpose of a Feeding Therapy Evaluation

An occupational therapy evaluation is used to help determine your child’s levels in motor development, play skills, sensory processing, and participation in activities of daily living. Through an in-depth look at these developmental milestones, we will be able to identify strengths, weaknesses, and current abilities affecting engagement in daily occupations. All the information gathered will determine with therapy can help your child achieve more Independently.

During an evaluation, one of our trained and licensed occupational therapists will complete formal and informal evaluations with your child and complete a caregiver interview to gather all the necessary information. Our skilled occupational therapists will use standardized assessments, interpret the results of the tests, and help you understand if there is a delay, why it’s affecting engagement, and how occupational therapy can help increase participation and independence in daily life. The information gathered throughout the evaluation is then used to design a specialized treatment plan with measurable goals specific for you child’s needs.

Suitable Candidates for an Occupational Therapy Evaluation

If you or your doctor have any concerns about your child’s development, an evaluation is a great place to start.

Concerns can include motor development, participation in play, social skills, attention, difficulty learning new skills, school participation, and participation with engagement in activities of daily living (i.e. feeding self, toileting, bathing, dressing, hygiene).

Your pediatrician will provide you with a referral for occupational therapy if you or they have concerns.

What to Expect During a Feeding Therapy Evaluation

The therapist will begin the evaluation asking questions about your child’s developmental history and what your concerns are for your child’s overall development. These questions include things such as pregnancy complications, birth weight and time, when they reached physical milestones (sitting up, crawling, walking, talking), any medications or diagnoses your child has, previous therapies, current schooling, and other languages besides English that your child hears day to day.

Based on your child’s age, we will choose and evaluation that best suits your child to help us determine their current levels of:

• Fine Motor Development: what they can do with their hands.
• Visual Motor Development: how they can coordinate their movements with what they see.
• Gross Motor Development: how they can plan and imitate movements with their entire body.
• Sensory Processing Skills: how they can process daily sensations and if its affecting their engagement in daily life.
• Throughout the evaluation, we will ask you questions about their participation in play, school, and activities of daily living at home.

After the assessment is completed, the therapist will go over the results of the test, what your child did well with (their strengths), what some things are that we will work on in therapy (areas of concerns), what you can work on at home, and how often we would like to see your child for therapy at the office.
At this time, we will also discuss if any other therapies (speech therapy, physical therapy, feeding therapy, music therapy, art therapy, and/or behavior therapy) or doctors (ENT, neurologist, etc.) are recommended.

Why Always Keep Progressing for Feeding Therapy in Miami?

At Always Keep Progressing, our occupational therapists work with you to get your child to their highest level of independence in school, play and activities of daily living. Our therapist are all trained with a variety of skills including sensory integration, feeding therapy, and play therapy.

We have a variety of assessments that we use to tailor each evaluation to what is best for each child. Our therapists are here to help you and your child continue to make positive progress in their participation in daily activities.

If you think your child needs an occupational therapy evaluation, reach out to your pediatrician to obtain a referral, or call us at 786-206-4151 for more information.