To meet the needs of children and families in rural and remote communities Blossom Occupational Therapy is offering the option of consultations via online platforms such as Skype or Facetime.
Online visits require careful planning and preparation to ensure that time is used effectively:
- At least a fortnight before the online session, the family and therapist together identify what they would like to work on during the next session.
- Some preparation is usually needed before the session. Preparation may for example involve the family emailing a video of the child’s challenge (e.g. difficulty with dressing) to the therapist who analyses this before the visit and request any further information if necessary (e.g. what has been tried, what has worked or not and possible reasons why).
- At the time of the visit, the video is discussed and the family and therapist together decide on a possible course of action
- If indicated the therapist models any new strategies and the caregiver and child trials different strategies while being coached by the therapist.
- We then together decide on a plan of how the family can practice the skill within their daily routines and how and when we would like to check in with each other about how the plan is going (e.g. emails, phone calls, another online session).
This option is not appropriate for all types of intervention. Please contact us to determine whether this type of intervention meets your child’s needs.