Core Skills Analysis
Occupational Therapy and Everyday Skills
Olivia participated in an occupational therapy activity with Dee. Through this activity, Olivia engaged with occupational therapy as a way to practise skills that support participation in everyday tasks. The session offered an opportunity to work with Dee in a guided learning setting. At age 14, Olivia could connect the activity with the broader idea that practising functional skills can help people take part more independently in daily life.
Tips
Tips Continue the learning with Olivia by inviting her to notice a daily task she would like to practise, then break it into small steps and reflect on which steps feel comfortable. She and Dee could make a simple progress chart to record practice and celebrate effort. For a creative extension, Olivia could design a visual guide or comic showing how someone approaches a familiar everyday task, while discussing how different strategies can make activities easier to manage.
Book Recommendations
- The Survival Guide for Kids with ADHD by John F. Taylor: A practical, encouraging guide to strategies for managing routines, schoolwork, and everyday responsibilities.
- Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism by Barry M. Prizant: A strengths-focused perspective on understanding and supporting people’s individual ways of communicating and engaging with the world.
Try This Next
- Everyday-task stepsheet: Choose a familiar task and draw or list its steps.
- Reflection prompt: What strategy helped you feel more ready to take part in a task?
- Practice tracker: Record a chosen skill, practice date, and one thing you noticed.