Westfall OT Services Common Symptoms Page

These are a few of the symptoms that can contribute to poor or inconsistent development of foundational skills needed to support academic and personal achievement in typical childhood activities on a daily basis, (playing, learning, creative expression, social interaction, eating, dressing, washing/bathing, brushing teeth, grooming, etc.)

Symptoms addressed in treatment may include:

· Extreme or inadequate reactions to touch (tactile system) contributing to atypical fine motor development or irritability associated with hygiene tasks, self-feeding, self-care, interaction in a social setting and play activities.

· Extreme or inadequate response to movement (vestibular system) contributing to gravitational insecurity (fear of movement) or inability to “sit still” and appearance of hyperactivity. This can also contribute to poor balance reactions.

· Distractibility in the visual field (visual system) or poor oculomotor coordination (smooth eye movements to track moving object or sustain/regain focus on objects) contributing to poor sustained attention, difficulty reading, inconsistent spelling, difficulty remembering things in order.

· Distractibility to environmental sounds (auditory system) contributing to poor sustained attention, reduced achievement in noisy environments, inconsistent understanding of or response to verbal instruction, unusual response to unexpected sounds, or fear of sounds or places that are noisy.

· Under responsiveness to sensory input contributing to poor body awareness (proprioceptive system), difficulty with motor planning (praxis) with difficulty copying body positions or movements, difficulty coordinating the two sides of the body (bilateral coordination) and frequent falling or bumping into objects.

· Atypical muscle tone, limited stability and endurance needed for sustained effort, limited postural control during tasks (frequent leaning on furniture or propping on hands), contributing to reduced ability to complete age appropriate activities and tasks with frequent complaints of fatigue and a tendency to choose sedentary activities.

· Difficulty achieving and maintaining the “just right” level of arousal for task completion.

· Atypical/inconsistent gross motor development.

· Atypical/inconsistent fine motor development with inconsistent or poor pre-writing development, poor or illegible handwriting, and resistance to or avoidance of art/craft activities.

· Atypical/inconsistent visual-spatial perceptual development.

· Atypical/inconsistent visual-motor, eye-hand, or ball handling skills.

How to begin OT Services:

If you feel your child may benefit from clinic-based OT services, please call or e-mail providing your name, the age of your child, and your mailing address along with your request for an intake packet.

The packet contains a cover letter, map, list of resources, description of WOTS office policies, and list of service fees. There are instructions for providing necessary background information, which you will send to WOTS. Upon receipt of the requested information at WOTS, you will receive a call to arrange an evaluation or screening.

WestfallOT@pacbell.net

(925) 443-6383

220 Wright Brothers Ave., Suite B, Livermore, CA 94551