Pediatric Recreation Therapy
Recreation Therapists use recreation to assess, plan, implement and evaluate skill development in the following areas: Physical, Emotional, Cognitive, Social and Spiritual. This is achieved through play, art, music, and fun activities. It is a person centered, strength-based health-care profession. What does this include? Let’s review the domains of Therapeutic Recreation:
Physical
Fine and Gross Motor
Adaptive Sports
Social
Emotional
Cognitive
What does this NOT include?
A pediatric recreation therapist can help your child with:
Conditions Treated
Recreation Therapists work with all kids, including kids with the following conditions and more!
- ADHD and attention issues
- Anxiety and stress management
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cerebral Palsy
- Developmental Coordination Disorder
- Dystonia
- Global Developmental Delay
- Hypotonia
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Rare genetic conditions
- Retained Primitive Reflexes
- Self-regulation and emotional awareness and control
- Sensory integration and processing
- Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome)
- Visual perceptual skills
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How is Recreation Therapy different than Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapists help clients to function better in all areas of their lives, while recreation therapists help improve the quality of their life using recreation and leisure. While an OT or a PT will help improve strength and mobility, a recreation therapist will help you do the things you love at every stage of the process. An OT will teach you skills to use in every-day life, and a recreation therapist will help you discover ways of implementing these skills into activities that you love. Recreation therapists look at the five domains of leisure: physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and social, and help people discover and enjoy activities within those domains, that make them feel fulfilled and happy in their lives.
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What does a child do during an RecreationTherapy session?
During the first session, the recreation therapist will do an assessment, where goals and barriers will be discussed. The recreation therapist will then plan programs to work towards those goals. By looking at interests, past leisure history, and current needs, a recreation therapist can help create a leisure plan for your child and family. This can include in-clinic sessions filled with activities such as games, art, music and play, or it can consist of offering resources and creating a plan you can implement out in the community. Recreation Therapy is a strength-based practice and is centred around creating positive, encouraging experiences.
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Are Occupational Therapy sessions covered by our Health plan?
Some health plans may cover Recreation Therapy services. Each provider offers a different plan so check with yours to find out.
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How can we make Recreation Therapy affordable if we don’t have any coverage?
Recreation Therapy will be offered in one-on-one formats and small group class styles. These options may help make this type of therapy more affordable for your family. In some cases, government funding programs may also be used to cover costs.
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