What are the benefits of occupational therapy for ASD?

The overall goal of occupational therapy is to help the person with autism improve their quality of life at home and in school. The therapist helps introduce, maintain, and improve skills so that people with autism can be as independent as possible.

These are some of the skills occupational therapy may foster:

• Daily living skills, such as toilet training, dressing, brushing teeth, and other grooming skills

• Fine motor skills required for holding objects while handwriting or cutting with scissors

• Gross motor skills used for walking, climbing stairs, or riding a bike

• Sitting, posture, or perceptual skills, such as telling the differences between colors, shapes, and sizes

• Awareness of their body and its relation to others

• Visual skills for reading and writing

• Play, coping, self-help, problem solving, communication, and social skills

By working on these skills during occupational therapy, a child with autism may be able to:

• Develop peer and adult relationships

• Learn how to focus on tasks

• Learn how to delay gratification

• Express feelings in more appropriate ways

• Engage in play with peers

• Learn how to self-regulate