Five instances when you might want to call an occupational therapist

You’ve probably heard of occupational therapy before at one time or another. Perhaps an older family member has ended up in rehab after a surgery or hospital stay and received occupational therapy services. Or perhaps someone you know has received outpatient occupational therapy following a hand or arm injury.

With these types of prior exposures to occupational therapy, you might be questioning what an occupational therapist could even do for your homeschooled student. But occupational therapists can work in many different settings, including working with students, and if homeschooling isn’t quite running smoothly for you, working with an occupational therapist may bring about changes that make the homeschool process easier on everyone involved. So what are some instances when an occupational therapist might be able to help your homeschooled student?

Your student won’t pay attention when you read or teach.
A student who struggles to pay attention during lessons might gaze off into space, interrupt you to ask unrelated question, or fidget and move constantly while you’re trying to teach them. They might also struggle to answer comprehension questions related to something you just read to them, or they might take an inordinate amount of time to complete assignments. The challenges this student is facing are potentially due to problems with attention, and if so, an occupational therapist may be able to help.

Your student dislikes handwriting or gets tired easily when writing.
Students who lack the foundational physical skills required for handwriting tasks will often dislike handwriting, complain of pain when writing, or tire easily during writing assignments. Students with visual processing skills or other handwriting related challenges may have trouble copying letters, have trouble writing clearly enough that you can read what they wrote, or may write letters and numbers backwards. Regardless of how they present, if your student is having any challenges related to handwriting, an occupational therapist is generally the provider of choice to help out.

Your student struggles to understand verbal or written instructions.
Do you find yourself having to repeat or rephrase instructions you give to your student in order for them to understand? Or do you find yourself needing to provide instructions one small step at a time? If so, it’s possible your student is having difficulty with comprehension and an occupational therapist can help with this, too.

Your student is easily frustrated when learning something new.
Students who become easily frustrated may cry, respond angrily, act out, or make disparaging comments about their intelligence when faced with learning something new or challenging. While we all might feel frustrated when something is harder than we expected, students should be able to appropriately handle these frustrations without becoming emotional or lashing out. If your student is struggling in this area, they may need help with emotional regulation from an occupational therapist.

Your older student can’t manage their daily assignments without constant reminders.
Younger students require a more hands-on approach to teaching in the homeschool, but as students age they should become more independent in their schooling by taking on more responsibility in the development and execution of their daily schedules as they prepare for adulthood and life after homeschool. Students who struggle in this area may forget to complete lessons or may fall so far behind in certain subjects that it is difficult for them to catch up. Rather than compensate by continuing to heavily monitor your older student throughout the day to ensure they remain on track with assignments, consider having your student work with an occupational therapist to develop organizational strategies and improve executive functioning skills necessary to succeed independently in adulthood.

These are by no means the only times an occupational therapist can assist a homeschooled student, but hopefully these examples help to illustrate the role occupational therapy can play within the homeschool environment. If your student is struggling with homeschool, it can create challenges not only for the student, but also for you, as the parent and teacher, as well as for other students within the family. So seek out the help you and your student need to go from surviving to thriving and contact an occupational therapist today.