Paediatric Occupational Therapy near Forest Lodge
Giving your child the skills and confidence to thrive.
Nurture your child's growth
Your child’s development journey is unique, and we’re here to walk it with you. Whether they have a developmental delay, a disability, are neurodivergent, or would benefit from extra support, our fun occupational therapy sessions may help your child build towards independence.
Here at Inner West Paediatrics, we bring experience supporting children across a wide spectrum of abilities and disabilities. These include autism, global developmental delay, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, genetic differences, learning difficulties, ADHD, social-emotional difficulties, trauma, and behavioural differences.
Where our occupational therapists make a difference
Together with your child, we focus on the everyday skills that matter most, including play, participating at school, and self-care tasks such as feeding, dressing, and toileting.
This includes fine and gross motor skills, building strategies that support attention and concentration, developing play and social interaction skills, and creating regulation strategies for emotional, sensory and behavioural needs. We offer several ways for your family to access care, including:
In-person OT
Mobile occupational therapy
Online OT
Our approach to skills development
Fine and gross motor skills
Our therapists consider the underlying motor skills at play, such as strength and endurance, stability, balance, coordination, and motor planning. From there, we develop strategies to support your child to take part joyfully in the activities they enjoy.
Self-care tasks and activities of daily living
We break down daily living tasks such as dressing, toileting, eating, sleeping, and personal hygiene to help your child perform them with increased independence.
Play and social interaction
We take the time to get to know your child’s interests, their sensory preferences and aversions, their interaction skills and their play skill level. We also look at the skills and understanding of family and other important people in your child’s life. From there, we create fun play ideas and strategies to support your child to build meaningful social connections and interactions through everyday routines, while growing the capacity, skills and confidence of the important people around them to join in meaningful play.
Regulation (Emotional, Sensory, Attention)
Our occupational therapists help your child build strategies for emotional regulation, sensory regulation, and attention, so they may join in important activities as comfortably and independently as possible. Alongside this, we support you and other important people in your child’s life to develop strategies and skills, and to modify tasks and environments that allow your child to thrive.
Functional Capacity Assessments
An FCA provides clear, evidence-based recommendations to support NDIS applications or reviews, advocate for the right supports, and guide therapy planning and collaboration with schools and other professionals. We spend time with you and your child to gather all the necessary information and create a comprehensive report about your child’s abilities. We may also recommend therapies, accommodations, assistive technology, and next steps.
Community and School Participation
Our occupational therapists can support you and your child in identifying the school and community activities that are important to them and in developing strategies to support their participation.
Looking for the right support for your child?
Our paediatric occupational therapists work alongside families to provide personalised support that fits your child’s unique strengths and needs.
Therapy approaches grounded in evidence
- DIR Floortime principles
- SCERTS®
- Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP Approach)
- Learn to Play approach
- Occupational Performance Coaching
- Handwriting Without Tears programs
- Toileting interventions
- Sleep interventions
- Zones of Regulation
- Alert Program
- Autism Level UP
- Regulation and sensory supports
- Upper limb programs including CIMT & bimanual skill programs
- Cognitive interventions
Frequently asked questions about occupational therapy
What does occupational therapy involve?
Occupational therapy aims to help people achieve independence and improve their quality of life by addressing physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges.
What can an occupational therapist support my child with?
Occupational therapy can support a wide range of areas, including difficulties with fine motor skills, coordination, and self-care tasks, as well as social skills, emotional regulation, and attention.
How do I know if my child needs occupational therapy?
If your child is struggling with everyday tasks, like getting dressed, holding a pencil, managing emotions, or engaging with peers, it may be worth exploring OT support. If you’re unsure, get in touch, and our team will help you determine what they may benefit from.
What does your approach to intervention look like?
Our occupational therapists begin by getting to know you and your child so we can understand your priorities and establish meaningful goals. From there, intervention focuses on activities that develop the skills your child needs, adapting tasks, environments or routines where appropriate to support taking part in everyday life.
What speech and occupational therapies do you provide?
- Hanen Programs (It Takes Two to Talk, More Than Words, Target Word, Talkability, Learning Language and Loving it)
- DIR Floortime Principles
- Learn to Play approach
- Key Word Sign
- Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT)
- SOS Feeding Approach
- Responsive Feeding Approach
- The Lidcombe Program
- Sounds~Write
- Meaningful Speech for Gestalt Language Processors
- Occupational Performance Coaching
- High and Low Tech AAC assessment, trial and intervention
- Handwriting Without Tears programs
- Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP Approach)
- Toileting interventions
- Zones of Regulation
- Alert Program
- Regulation and sensory supports
- Upper limb programs including CIMT & bimanual skill programs
- Cognitive interventions
Do you give parents and carers resources for home?
Yes. Our therapists share practical resources and strategies with parents and carers to support their child’s development between sessions, since meaningful progress happens in everyday life rather than in the clinic.
How can OT support be funded?
Support your child beyond OT
The Inner West Paediatrics difference
The right therapist match
Through a thorough triage process, we carefully pair a therapist with your child and family based on the details you share, so the right support is in place from day one.
Family at the centre
Our team works to build the confidence and skills of parents and carers, empowering them to support their child's independence over the long term.
Locally operated
Inner West Paediatrics is independently owned and run locally, providing community-first care that puts your family first.
Where Forest Lodge families turn for children's OT
We believe all children should be given the tools they need to grow and learn with confidence, which is why we offer tailored OT support in Forest Lodge. If your child is struggling with daily activities, reach out to our committed team today.