Pediatric occupational therapy (OT) is an incredible way to address and work through a child’s challenging behaviors. Stick around to learn how OT can enhance your child’s focus and help develop strategies for your child to express their needs properly.

At Dynamic Therapy Specialists, we get many parents inquiring about how to support their child who is:

• Not following directions
• Acting out against parents, siblings, classmates, etc.
• Struggling to control their impulses
• Having trouble managing their emotions
• Struggling to make or keep friends 
• Avoiding situations, people, and things 

When we receive these calls, we first communicate with the parents that these behaviors are, in fact, forms of communication. It’s our job, as specialists, to work with the family and work with the child’s team (including teachers, daycare providers, etc.) to discover exactly what needs their child is trying to communicate through negative or challenging behaviors.

How Your Child May Express Their Needs Through Challenging Behaviors

Take these two examples of children who are expressing their needs through challenging behaviors. At Dynamic Therapy Specialists, we would work through these behaviors to understand the child’s underlying needs and how to manage these challenges. 

Example 1: Overwhelmed at a School Assembly

As an example, imagine a child who repeatedly runs out of school assemblies. While he is running out of the gymnasium, he looks over his shoulder and laughs at the adult who is chasing him, trying to keep him safe. If you were the adult in this situation, you may interpret this behavior as defiance.

However, with some therapeutic discovery, we may find out that the loud sounds of the assembly, the echo of the gymnasium, or the smell of the cleaning solution used on the floors are averse to the child. His only way of solving this discomfort is to run away. The way he communicates that he is completely dysregulated is through hysterical laughter. While this may look defiant, this child would greatly benefit from understanding his own sensory system and his ability to use strategies to communicate that he is in need of help.

Example 2: Picky Eating

Another example that many parents can relate to is “picky eating.” We define a “picky eater” as someone who may not have a food allergy or intolerance, but decides they do not want to eat particular goods. This can be frustrating and overwhelming as a parent, especially when they are averse to the healthy foods we want them to eat.

With some therapeutic discovery, we may help the child’s family learn that the child’s oral motor sensations are hyperactive, which means they are very in tune and pick up on every tiny sensation. Therefore, when a child eats an adverse food the parent wants them to eat, they may feel like they are eating nails!

What we aim to do is help the parents understand that their child’s behavior is not defiant. They are communicating that they need support in regulating their oral motor sensitivities while eating.

So, how do we do that? How do we listen to these behaviors? How do we know what they’re communicating? Let’s find out!

How We Support Your Child in Communicating Their Needs

Our team of specialists at Dynamic Therapy Specialists are trained to understand that many behaviors are actually forms of communication; that your child may be trying to communicate a need and together we need to work on how to interpret and address their unmet needs.

What the Dynamic Therapy Specialists team does not do is replace behaviors. By trying to eliminate behaviors, we are expressing to the child that they should stop communicating their needs. Instead, we dig deep! We intervene with their unmet needs and help parents understand how to address their needs. At the same time, we work as a team to remediate the underlying difficulties that are causing these behaviors.

The occupational therapists at Dynamic Therapy Specialists are trained to support children and their family members to make decisions that put their child on a path to success. Together we work through the challenging behaviors that are getting in the way of the child’s communication. Through tailored interventions developed by our occupational therapists, families can learn how to manage these challenges, how to enhance their child’s focus, and how to help develop strategies for their children to express their needs properly. All in all, this helps lead to improved behavior and quality of life for the child and their family.

The occupational therapists at Dynamic Therapy Specialists go above and beyond for our patients and their families. Click here to learn more and book a consultation call!