Occupational therapy can be a vital part of supporting a child with autism. Many of these children have challenges with motor skills, social skills, and sensory processing.
Occupational therapy, or OT, builds and supports these areas, focusing on helping children become independent adults. OT in autism treatment can be a critical way to support children’s development.
Top 5 Benefits of OT for Autism in Ohio
OT can help children with autism navigate the challenges of living in a neurotypical world with greater confidence. At Education Alternatives, we’ve seen five areas improve in our students when we integrate OT into their support plans. Here’s how OT helps individuals with autism:
- Daily Living Skills: OT supports better independence by teaching children how to perform daily living tasks, such as dressing, eating, and toileting.
- Fine and Gross Motor Skills: Students practice fine and gross motor skills, including writing, cutting, coordination, and strength training.
- Social and Communication Skills: Role-playing and interactive games teach children how to communicate and interact with peers socially.
- Sensory and Emotional Regulation: Sensory integration activities can support better emotional regulation by helping the child overcome sensory overwhelm.
- Improved Mental Health: Research shows children with autism who engage in OT have better mental health outcomes.
Growing Independence in Daily Living Skills
Many children with autism struggle to perform the tasks they need for daily living. Managing buttons, overcoming sensory input from clothing, and managing routines can all make living independently as adults difficult.
OT focuses on building these skills using strategies such as:
- Visual Schedules: Pictures and text help autistic individuals stay on track with daily tasks.
- Hygiene Practice: Working on skills like brushing hair or teeth with a therapist improves independence.
- Task Breakdown: Showing the steps to complete a task makes it less overwhelming.
- Other Daily Living Skills: Personalized approaches ensure that other daily living skills, such as cooking, become part of the therapy plan.
Improving Fine and Gross Motor Skills
Often, fine and gross motor deficits exist that the therapist can then target in therapy. Traditional therapy methods can improve strength, while targeted therapies work on coordination. By improving both, the therapist helps the child gain skills necessary not only in the classroom, but also in daily life.
Increasing Communication to Improve Social Skills Through OT
Independence requires solid social skills and clear communication. OT therapists work with children on vital skills such as:
- Learning to read nonverbal communication cues
- Engaging in reciprocal conversation
- Displaying appropriate behaviors for social settings
- Navigating sharing and teamwork
- Expressing emotions in a socially acceptable way
Strategies such as play-based learning or role-playing help children gain these skills in a safe, supported environment under the care of their OT therapist.
Regulating Emotions Through Improved Sensory Integration
Through weighted blankets, vestibular activities, compression garments, and desensitization activities, therapists teach children how to improve self-regulation, even when facing overwhelming sensory situations. Learn more about how children with autism manage emotional dysregulation.
Improved Success Leads to Improved Mental Health
One of the best benefits of occupational therapy in autism treatment is improvement in the individual’s mental health, often due to improved confidence. This finding is backed by research. In 2023, the American Occupational Therapy Association published a report that found a significant improvement in mental health with the addition of OT.
Individualized Therapy Plans for OT for Autism in Ohio
Each child with autism is unique. An OT treatment plan should be unique to the child’s specific needs. A quality provider will take the time to assess where the child is, then create a treatment plan to help them gain the skills they need. In this assessment, the provider should look at the child’s play, learning abilities, self-care abilities, and social interactions.
Top OT Providers in Ohio
OT in autism support in Ohio requires the help of a provider who clearly understands children with autism and their unique ways of processing the world. Here are the top providers with programs that integrate well with an autism support plan.
Monarch Center for Autism
Located in Shaker Heights, the Monarch Center for Autism offers OT with a specific focus on the following:
- Sensory Integration
- Social Skills
- Daily Living Skills
Each client receives an individualized treatment plan to address specific areas of need.
Bierman Autism Centers
With locations in Gahanna, Westerville, and Dublin, Bierman Autism Centers reaches a large part of the community. Their OT services focus on:
- Daily living skills
- Fine motor skills
- Sensory integration
- This center integrates OT with both ABA and speech therapy for a well-rounded approach to autism support.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Kelly O’Leary Center
The Kelly O’Leary Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is a medical-based provider with an autism intensive program that includes a range of therapies. OT is one of these. In the OT for autism, providers focus on:
- Motor skills
- Visual skills
- Handwriting
- Sensory processing
- This center focuses on children but provides support as children transition into adulthood.
Easterseals of Northeast Ohio
Through its Skill Development Center in Warrensville Heights, Easterseals of Northeast Ohio provides OT. Their services focus on:
- Social skills
- Life Skills
- Independent living
- Easterseals is a nationwide organization that focuses primarily on autism support.
Peak Potential Therapy
A Hudson-based provider, Peak Potential Therapy provides OT services that focus on:
- Social skills
- Sensory Integration
- Daily living skills
- This center also provides speech therapy.
Bridgeway Therapy Center
Bridgeway Therapy Center is in Columbus. They create individualized treatment plans for children with autism that include OT. Additional therapies offered include:
- Speech therapy
- Music therapy
- Physical therapy
- This multi-faceted approach allows families to access multiple treatments in one location.
Avenues for Autism
Avenues for Autism has multiple schools and treatment centers throughout Ohio, with a primary focus on the Toledo area. This organization treats autism alongside other developmental disabilities. OT services pair alongside other therapies, such as:
- Physical therapy
- Aquatic therapy
- Speech therapy
- As children transition to adulthood, Avenues for Autism has multiple adult living residential facilities, such as the Anne Grady home in Holland.
Education Alternatives
Education Alternatives has eight locations in Northeast Ohio, including Bedford, Brook Park, Cuyahoga Falls, and Akron, among others, with a main office in Cleveland. OT services include a focus on:
- Sensory processing
- Social skills
- Life skills
Education Alternatives is part of the Coral Autism Program designed specifically for K-12 students. This means students also receive personalized education, and OT is integrated with ABA.
How to Choose an Ohio OT Program for Autism
Ohio has multiple providers that offer OT for autism, and choosing the right one can feel overwhelming. As you call providers and set up interviews, look for one offering:
- Integrated Therapies: OT isn’t the only solution for autism therapy. ABA, speech, and other therapies can also help.
- Focus on Education: For children, the goal needs to be gaining skills as well as ensuring the child receives an appropriate education.
- Autism-specific Focus: Some OT offices offer treatment for other conditions, and these don’t always have the autism understanding you want for your child.
- Focus on Independence: Finally, choose a center that focuses on building independence in children, with the goal of allowing them to live as independently as possible as adults.
Education Alternatives provides all four of these. Our focus is on providing alternative learning programs for children who need additional support. We pair special education providers who understand autism with mental health providers to support our students as they gain life skills alongside an education. We integrate therapy into the school day and develop Individual Education Plans that ensure each student receives exactly what they need to thrive.
We understand that finding a provider of OT for autism in Ohio can feel overwhelming. We’re here to help with the autism support Ohio families need.
Schedule a tour of Education Alternatives in your area today.