Below are some guidelines to help parents determine if their child needs to be screened for occupational therapy.

Occupational Therapy

3 Year Olds

- If the child cannot complete a simple puzzle (5 pieces)

- If the child holds a crayon with a fist, not using their thumbs or fingers

- If the child has difficulty turning pages one by one

- If the child has difficulty copying a vertical or horizontal line or a circle

4 Year Olds

- If the child cannot draw a person with 3 parts or more

- If the child has difficulty drawing a square

- If the child has difficulty cutting around a picture with scissors

5 Year Olds

- If the child cannot draw a recognizable picture

- If the child has difficulties copying a triangle from a picture

- If the child cannot draw a person with 5 or more parts

- If the child has not developed hand preference

6 Year Olds and older 

- If your child's written work is not legible

- If a mixture of lower case and upper case letters are noted in writing

-Your child has a weak or strange pencil grip

- If your child's written work has poor spacing between words and letters, reversals of numbers or letter are noted, or poor organization of work 

Occupational therapy addresses fine motor skills (the ability to transfer objects from one hand to the other, hand-eye coordination, and manipulating small objects, such as pencil control and cutting), visual perception (the ability to see, discern and recognize shapes visibly, such as recognizing letters), and visual motor skills (the ability to draw what one sees, such as writing letters).