Ever tried to teach someone how to tie their shoelaces? A task you barely think about suddenly becomes a whole series of fiddly little steps: make the loops, cross them over, pull one through… and somehow keep hold of everything at the same time.
For children and young people who find everyday tasks tricky, getting dressed, packing a school bag, making breakfast or following a morning routine can involve a lot more effort than it seems.
These are everyday moments, and they add up. This is where an Occupational Therapist can help.
What does an Occupational Therapist actually do?
We help improve daily living skills from doing up buttons to baking brownies. To do that, an Occupational Therapist starts by figuring out what’s really getting in the way of a task, which could be:
- Fine motor skills needed to hold a fork and get food to the mouth
- Sensory overwhelm of showering, thanks to unpredictable water pressure, echoey noise, strong soap smells or the feeling of wet clothes sticking to skin
- Planning and focus needed to build a morning routine that actually works.
Once we know what’s tricky, we get practical (OTs are very down-to-earth). There’s no “right” way to do any of these tasks, so we can work with you to find an approach you like. That could involve breaking a task into bite-sized steps, using some clever equipment, creating a visual schedule, tweaking the environment, or just practising the fiddly bit until it clicks.
Underlying all of this is something called executive function. This is like the brain’s command centre, enabling you to plan, focus, remember instructions, adapt to changes and manage feelings. Lots of OT work is really about supporting executive function.
What are ADLs and IADLs?
These are popular acronyms in Occupational Therapy.
ADLS are activities of daily living, measured by the Katz Index of ADLs. These are the basic independence skills such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and grooming.
IADLs (instrumental activities of daily living) are the next level up, measured by the Lawton IADL Scale. These are the skills needed to live safely alone, such as using the phone, shopping, cooking, housekeeping, laundry, transport, managing medicines, and handling money.
Little kids to grown adults – we’ve got a lane for everyone
The skills for daily life vary with age. For kids, OTs often help with ADLs, such as mastering shoelaces, cutlery or handwriting – the fine motor building blocks for getting dressed and completing schoolwork. Because most of us learn better when we’re having fun, we teach these skills through play.
For teens and adults, the focus often shifts to IADLs, such as cooking, cleaning, budgeting, or maintaining a schedule. These things can be tricky if you’re recovering from a stroke or brain injury, or if your executive function works differently due to autism or ADHD. An OT might help you create a safer, more functional kitchen set-up, break a recipe into easier steps or help you find easier ways of tackling chores before they feel overwhelming. Knowing you’re capable of looking after yourself builds confidence – and we love seeing that blossom!
The 7 essential life skills
Many different skills go into creating a meaningful life, but psychologist Ellen Galinsky has identified 7 foundational ones that every child needs. Those are:
- Focus and self-control
- Perspective-taking
- Communicating
- Making connections
- Critical thinking
- Taking on challenges
- Self-directed learning.
Consider things like finishing a puzzle, noticing a sibling is upset and sharing a toy, getting back on their bike after a fall, or explaining they’re upset instead of throwing things.
Why we’re goal-obsessed (in a good way)
Goals give direction to therapy and ensure everyone’s working towards the same thing. Setting a goal also means that, with a bit of work, you can achieve it, giving you something to celebrate and building your confidence in tackling other goals too.
At Look Who’s Talking, we set goals together, aiming for real-life wins that make your week easier to manage. Depending on your age, or your child’s, an OT goal for independent living might be:
- Packing your school bag the night before without help
- Managing the morning routine using a visual schedule rather than relying on reminders from other people
- Cooking a simple dinner three nights a week
- Showering independently every two days
- Catching the bus to school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Specific, achievable and genuinely useful – that’s the sweet spot for an OT goal.
Helping your child with daily living skills at home
You don’t need a therapy room to build these skills – some of the best practice happens in the everyday chaos of home life.
Try to:
- Break it down: “Get ready for school” involves many separate steps. Break it down into chunks such as “eat breakfast, get dressed, clean teeth, put on socks and shoes.” Smaller steps make it less daunting and easier to stay on track.
- Use visuals: A picture schedule or checklist on the wall does a lot of heavy lifting. It means fewer verbal reminders from you, and more independence for them.
- Build in extra time: Rushing turns every task into a battle, so allow extra time in your morning plan to take the pressure off everyone.
- Let them struggle a little: It’s tempting to tie the shoelaces yourself when you’re running late, but the fumbling is where the learning happens. Let them have a go first.
- Celebrate progress: Give them a high-five when they do something independently or praise their efforts when they’re trying. Building confidence matters.
- Keep it consistent: Predictability makes a routine easier to master (and easier to remember).
And if something’s consistently a struggle despite all of the above, that’s worth mentioning to your OT – it might be a sign there’s an underlying skill worth building on together.
OT for life skills
Buttons, breakfast, bike rides, bus stops – whatever the life skill, our OTs love helping it click for you or your child. Please book an OT assessment with our team and we can start working on it together.
Disclaimer
All information is general and not intended as a substitute for professional advice.
References
- Fuentes-García, A. (2014). Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_1572
- Tafiadis, D., Siafaka, V., Voniati, L., Prentza, A., Papadopoulos, A., Ziavra, N., & Konitsiotis, S. (2023). Lawton’s Instrumental Activities of Daily Living for Greek-Speaking Adults with Cognitive Impairment: A Psychometric Evaluation Study with Additional Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis. Brain sciences, 13(7), 1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13071093