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Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy Service

What is Occupational Therapy for children and young people?

Occupational Therapy can help babies, infants, children and young people grow, learn, have fun, socialise and play so they can develop, thrive and reach their full potential (Royal College of Occupational Therapy). Occupations for children include all the things they need and want to do on a daily basis like:

  • getting dressed
  • cleaning their teeth
  • toileting and washing
  • feeding and eating
  • participate at nursery/school
  • play and leisure (sports, games, hobbies and social life)

Our service supports children and young people who may find it difficult to do their best in these activities. For further information on Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy services click here.

How does our service work?

All new requests for assistance are screened by the Occupational Therapy locality team. If a child is accepted, you as the parent or carer will be contacted by the Occupational Therapy Team. 

We work within local communities with children/young people and their families in a range of settings including home, nurseries, schools and clinics.

We also offer appointments via Attend Anywhere/Near Me which is a video calling service as a way of completing virtual face to face appointments. The link below has information on how to use this technology.  Please note that appointments will need to be arranged and agreed with the Occupational Therapist prior to using this service.

Information on using Paediatric Occupational Therapy Attend Anywhere

You may be offered the following levels of assistance: universal, targeted or specialist. Click on the Scottish Government, Ready To Act link for more details.

Universal activities of daily living strategies to try at home:

Universal strategies to further develop co-ordination skills:

Universal sensory processing strategies:

Universal strategies to try within nurseries/schools:

Our service also offers an upper limb clinic for children and young people who require support to use their hands and/or arms in meaningful activities.  Please use this link for further details.

Useful Links:

  • Kids Independently Developing Skills (KIDS) A resource which has lots of useful information is the Kids Independently Developing Skills (KIDS) website that was developed by Occupational Therapist’s in Glasgow.  We have been given  their  permission to have a link to their website and signpost children, young people and their families to this resource for further information. They also have information to support families during the COVID19 outbreak.  Please see link below:https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/kids/
  • Play Scotland also offer a range of resources/activities that families/carers can utilise to help promote and develop children and young people’s play skills to reach their full potential. Play Scotland have given permission to have a link to their website and signpost children, young people and their families to. The activities within their resources will help to develop gross/fine motor skills and give families/carers ideas of messy play activities they can engage children and young people with. 

https://www.playscotland.org/

To access our service you can:

  • contact us directly;
  • speak to other healthcare professionals currently involved with your child or young person’s care (for example a health visitor, GP, paediatrician, physiotherapist, or speech and language therapist); or
  • speak to school staff.

 Request for assistance paperwork can be completed by a parent/carer and returned to:

                                               aa-uhb.clinical-rainbowhouse@aapct.scot.nhs.uk

Contact details

North Locality Team
Rainbow House
Ayrshire Central Hospital
Kilwinning Road
Irvine
KA12 8SS

Telephone: 01294 323070

East Locality Team
The Johnnie Walker Bond Building
15-17 Strand Street
Kilmarnock
KA1 1JB

Telephone: 01294 323070

South Locality Team
Nightingale House
Arrol Park Resource Centre
Doonfoot Road
Ayr
KA7 4DW

Telephone: 01292 614988