Some children face daily tasks that seem simple for others but feel confusing, frustrating, or just overwhelming to them. Getting dressed. Holding a pencil. Playing in a group. Eating without a meltdown. These everyday challenges aren’t always due to behavior often, they’re rooted in developmental or sensory processing issues that require professional support.
At Shaping Insight, Mulund, we specialize in Occupational Therapy (OT) Assessments that decode what’s going on beneath the surface so children can get the right help, and parents can stop guessing. If your child struggles with day-to-day tasks at home or school, an OT evaluation could be the turning point you’ve been searching for.
What Is an Occupational Therapy Assessment?
An Occupational Therapy Assessment is a structured evaluation that helps identify delays or challenges in a child’s ability to perform daily tasks, also known as “occupations.” These include everything from brushing teeth and using utensils to managing emotions and participating in play.
It’s not about diagnosing a condition, it’s about understanding how your child’s brain and body work together to get through the day. And when something’s not clicking, the OT assessment highlights where the breakdown is happening and how to support it.
When Should You Consider an OT Assessment?
If your child consistently struggles with age-appropriate daily tasks and those struggles affect their independence, confidence, or participation it’s worth exploring an OT evaluation.
You may notice challenges in areas like:
- Fine motor skills – Difficulty buttoning shirts, holding a pencil, or using scissors
- Gross motor skills – Trouble with balance, coordination, or playground activities
- Sensory responses – Overreaction to sounds, textures, or lights
- Self-care routines – Avoidance or delay in brushing teeth, eating, bathing, dressing
- Emotional regulation – Frequent meltdowns, rigidity, or inability to transition
- Attention & focus – Difficulty staying seated or completing tasks
These patterns can interfere with school success, social interaction, and home routines and they’re often misunderstood as defiance or laziness.
Commonly Used Assessments in Occupational Therapy (OT):
Occupational Therapists use a mix of standardized tests and clinical observations to evaluate how a child functions in everyday tasks. These assessments help identify strengths, challenges, and the right intervention strategies.
Here are some widely used OT assessments:
1. Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS-2)
- Evaluates: Gross and fine motor skills in young children
- Age Range: Birth to 5 years
- Use: Measures reflexes, locomotion, object manipulation, grasping, and visual-motor integration.
2. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2)
- Evaluates: Motor coordination, balance, strength, and agility
- Age Range: 4 to 21 years
- Use: Often used with school-aged children to assess movement-based difficulties.
3. Sensory Profile (SP & SP2)
- Evaluates: Sensory processing patterns across home and school environments
- Age Range: Birth to 14 years (varies by version)
- Use: Identifies over- or under-sensitivities in visual, auditory, tactile, and movement input.
4. Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI)
- Evaluates: Hand-eye coordination and visual perception
- Age Range: 2 to 18 years
- Use: Assesses how well children can copy shapes, helpful for writing and drawing tasks.
5. Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM)
- Evaluates: Self-care, mobility, and cognitive tasks
- Age Range: 6 months to 7 years
- Use: Tracks a child’s level of independence across daily life activities.
6. Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP-3)
- Evaluates: Visual-perceptual skills and their impact on functional performance
- Age Range: 4 to 12 years
- Use: Useful for children with reading, writing, or attention challenges.
7. School Function Assessment (SFA)
- Evaluates: Functional performance in school settings
- Age Range: Kindergarten to Grade 6
- Use: Helps identify support needs for participation in academic and non-academic school tasks.
8. Clinical Observations and Play-Based Assessments
- Evaluates: Natural behavior during structured and unstructured tasks
- Use: Therapists observe posture, grip, bilateral coordination, attention, and regulation during play or routine activities.
What Happens During an OT Assessment at Shaping Insight, Mulund?
Our assessments are designed to be thorough but child-friendly. We want your child to feel comfortable, and for you to walk away with clear answers and next steps.
Here’s what the process looks like:
- Parent Interview & History Review: We begin by talking with you. We want to understand your concerns, your child’s developmental milestones, routines, and behavior patterns at home and school.
- Observation in Action: Through play, structured tasks, and hands-on activities, we observe your child’s motor skills, attention, sensory processing, emotional regulation, and daily living abilities.
- Use of Standardized Tools: Depending on the child’s age and needs, we may use:
- PDMS-2 (motor skills)
- BOT-2 (coordination)
- Sensory Profile (sensory processing)
- VMI (visual-motor integration)
- Functional Independence Measures
- Environmental Input: Teacher feedback or caregiver reports may also be included to get a complete picture of how your child functions in different settings.
- Detailed Report + Personalized Plan: We compile all findings into a report that includes observations, test scores, interpretations, and a clear therapy plan tailored to your child.
Why Kids Struggle with Daily Tasks and How OT Helps
Children may struggle for many reasons from underdeveloped motor skills to sensory sensitivities, executive functioning issues, or a neurological condition like ADHD or autism. An OT assessment doesn’t just describe the difficulty, it explains why it’s happening and what can help.
OT addresses challenges such as:
- Weak muscle tone – which affects posture, writing, and endurance
- Sensory over- or under-responsiveness – which can trigger shutdowns or meltdowns
- Delayed hand-eye coordination – which affects feeding, drawing, and self-care
- Poor planning or sequencing – which makes multi-step tasks like dressing hard
- Low attention or distractibility – which impacts school performance
The Impact of OT on Daily Life
With the right therapy plan, many children show dramatic improvement in just a few months. They become more independent, more confident, and better able to participate in family routines and classroom tasks.
OT goals often include:
- Improving self-care (dressing, grooming, toileting)
- Building coordination for sports or PE
- Enhancing fine motor skills for school tasks
- Helping manage sensory input for calmer behavior
- Developing age-appropriate independence
Why Shaping Insight, Mulund?
At Shaping Insight, we combine clinical expertise with a deep understanding of child behavior and family dynamics. We don’t just assess; we partner with families to create long-term solutions that make everyday life easier.
What sets us apart:
- Trained and experienced Occupational Therapists
- In-depth, holistic assessments
- Collaborative planning with parents
- Individualized therapy plans tailored to each child’s goals
- Ongoing reviews and progress tracking
We also provide multidisciplinary services, including speech therapy, behavioral support, and developmental psychology because your child deserves a complete support system under one roof.
Let’s Help Your Child Thrive in Daily Life
If your child avoids daily routines, struggles with coordination, or melts down over small changes don’t wait. An OT assessment can help unlock their strengths and give you a clear path forward.
We’re here to help your child become more independent, and to help you feel more supported.
Book an OT Assessment at Shaping Insight, Mulund Today
📍 Shaping Insight, Mulund
🌐 Visit our website: https://www.shapinginsight.com/
📞 Call us at: +91 9769376766
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