Academic Performance

Supporting Your Child's Success At School

Many different factors can influence how your child performs in their school environment. Some of these include:

🧠 Physical and mental health
🍽️ Nutrition
🤝 Relationships with peers and teachers
🎯 Motivation and self-confidence
🏡 Parental expectations and support

When a child is having difficulty functioning well in school, a pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT) can help.

What Does an Occupational Therapist Do In The School Environment?

A pediatric OT works to support and improve a child’s ability to participate in everyday school tasks. This might include:

✋ Direct intervention – Helping the child develop, restore, or maintain specific skills needed for school (e.g. fine motor skills, attention, self-regulation).
🏫 Environmental support – Making adjustments or providing strategies to support success in the classroom or at home.
👩‍🏫 Consultation and education – Working closely with teachers, parents, and caregivers to:
- Understand the child’s unique strengths and needs
- Clarify the expectations placed on the child
- Promote consistency and support across settings

The goal is always to help the child feel confident, capable, and ready to learn.

Classroom Challenges

If a child is consistently displaying some of the behaviors below, it may be helpful to consider an Occupational Therapy (OT) evaluation. These signs can point to underlying difficulties with sensory processing, fine motor skills, visual-motor integration, or executive functioning.

✍️ Fine Motor & Handwriting Challenges

Illegible handwriting or frequent letter reversals
Presses too hard or too light with a pencil
Struggles to stay within the lines when coloring, drawing, or writing
Has difficulty cutting along lines or gluing objects accurately
Cries frequently during art or craft projects

👀 Visual-Motor & Copying Skills

Difficulty copying assignments from the whiteboard
Has trouble gluing or placing objects in the correct space

🧠 Attention & Executive Functioning

Does not seem to pay attention or fidgets constantly
Fails to turn in homework or puts it in the wrong location
Has not submitted assignments for extended periods

🔄 Transitions & Classroom Participation

Has a hard time transitioning between activities
Struggles to follow classmates in a line or group movement