Occupational Therapy - Children and Young People - SEND Local Offer for Coventry

Occupational Therapy for 0-18 (19 years in special education provision)

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy aims to enable children and young people (CYP) to become as independent as possible and maximise their potential in their daily lives. The main activities that children and young people do include playing and having leisure time, learning to take care of themselves and participating in school.

Occupational Therapists (OTs) use therapeutic techniques and sometimes specialist equipment to help children and young people become as independent as possible with everyday activities such as self-care, school work and play.

Currently, Occupational Therapy for children and young people in Coventry is provided by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust.

Here are some common reasons to consider a referral to an Occupational Therapist:

• When a physical difficulty is impacting on a child or young person's performance or development of skills. 
• There are difficulties with age-appropriate activities of daily living (such as getting dressed, brushing teeth, washing hair)
• To get an assessment for a child or young person to use equipment at home and school
• To get an assessment of a child or young person's motor skills - these are important foundations for future skills
• To get an assessment of visual motor integration skills (hand-eye coordination)

Referral criteria

Children and young people between the ages of 0-18 (19 years in special education provision) who are registered with a Coventry GP can be referred to this service. Referrals must be made by teachers and other health professionals like consultants, GPs, school nurses, health visitors etc.

If a professional is referring on behalf of a family/carers they need to get consent from the parent/carer before the referral is sent to the Occupational Therapy team.

The service does not accept referrals based on a specific diagnosis alone or for children whose functional skills are in line with their cognitive ability.

Concerns regarding behaviour related to toileting should be directed to the relevant health visitor or school nurse.

Once a referral is received it is prioritised by our Occupational Therapy team triage.

A letter will be written to the person who referred and the parent or carer when they make a decision about the outcome of the referral triage.

For more information, please visit the Children and Young People's Occupational Therapy in Coventry Website.