How OT's help
All of us suffer difficulties from time to time which challenge our self-confidence but which ultimately build character, and these experiences are a particularly important part of a child's growth process. However, for some children excessive shyness or lack of self-confidence may hold back their development towards maturity.
Whether your child's school has identified that they struggle with self-confidence, or you have noticed such difficulties yourself, we can help. Some of the most common signs which prompt approaches to the OT Practice include:
- Struggling to form and sustain friendships in and/or out of school
- Reluctance to go to school or to friends' houses in favour of solitary play
- Difficulty interacting with adults outside the immediate family circle such as teachers or family friends
- Behavioural problems resulting from a child's frustration at their perceived exclusion
Our assessment process allows a specialist occupational therapist to identify the nature of your child's difficulties with self-confidence, and the reasons for them. Once identified, we can work with you and your child to put in place a plan to address them.
Packages of care
We are flexible around the needs of your child and family and have a variety of treatment packages to develop a child's confidence.
We start with an assessment; after which we then shape our intervention, oriented towards ensuring that you and your child see measurable improvements, and might include one or more of the following:
- An eight-week block of one-to-one bespoke sessions delivered to your child at home or school, after which we will review and plan the next steps with you
- An intensive block of sessions delivered over the holidays - this is popular with overseas families, or those with limited weekend or after-school capacity in term time
- A home and school programme providing practical, everyday techniques, with advice and support to ensure that the approach is consistent throughout your child's day
Common areas we work on
Through our assessment we will identify the specific areas of self-confidence that your child is struggling with, and the source of these difficulties, allowing us to plan a targeted programme.
Some of the most common areas that we would expect to be working on include:
- Positive thinking and choices
- Relationships and friendships
- Taking turns and sharing
- Making appropriate eye-contact
- Managing failures and challenges
- Working with parents and schools to ensure that the right approaches to developing self-confidence continue even when the OT is not present
