Occupational therapy service statement

This statement has been coproduced (created together) with the Parent Carer Forums across Bedfordshire and Luton.

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy improves health and well-being by enabling people to participate in activities of daily living that are important to them. Various factors can make it difficult for people to engage in activities that others manage easily.

How people manage daily activities (occupational performance) is a result of the interaction between:

personal factors (such as their strength, coordination, sensory needs, motivation)
the activity (e.g. getting dressed, brushing teeth)
the environment (physical, sensory, cultural, institutional)

Occupational therapy interventions can focus on any or all of these three elements. Developed from the World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) 2012.

What can Occupational Therapists do to support my child?

The Luton and Bedfordshire Paediatric Occupational Therapist service support children and young people to engage and participate as fully as possible in childhood occupations (activities) such as:

play
eating
self-care such as washing, cleaning your teeth and toileting
dressing
school and life skills such as writing and alternatives to recording information and using scissors
managing at school such as getting around the class/school, supportive seating, specialist toilet seats
hobbies and leisure activities

The following resources are available to everyone (universal advice). They are being updated and reviewed regularly, in the ‘What we do’ section of our website.

‘You make the difference’ video clip targeted as children 5 and under, to promote use of their hands, independence skills such as eating and dressing and their speech and language and social skills.
The Developmental Skills Package which includes strategies to develop functional everyday activities such as cutlery skills, dressing skills, ball skills and pencil skills.
Sensory Processing Awareness Training (video and planning wheel) which includes strategies and resources

Our service provides a graduated approach based on the Royal College of Occupational Therapy universal, targeted and specialist intervention framework. Download a copy of our framework for more information.

Bedfordshire and Luton Occupational Therapy Service:

We operate a countywide service from two bases: one at Redgrave Children and Young People’s centre, Luton and one at Kempston Child Development Centre. We are a team consisting of approximately fifteen staff including qualified and registered Occupational Therapists and trained Paediatric Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioners.

We see children and young people:

aged up to 18 years old or 19 for a child with SEND if in full-time education
with a Luton or Bedfordshire GP
present with functional difficulties that are not in line with their overall developmental abilities (this includes academic attainment levels).

Regarding sensory differences

Our service follows the guidance from the The Royal college of Occupational Therapy: Sensory experiences and preferences are considered within an Occupational therapy assessment where these experiences impact on the daily lives and activities of children. Our approach is based on supporting parents/carers and schools to be aware of sensory processing difficulties and how to adapt the things around the child, such as the environment, the child’s activities and our expectations and responses. We cannot change the sensory experiences of children but would aim to increase participation and help you manage the impact of these at home and in the classroom.

Before referring children in to the OT service we would ask that you complete our universal offer resources which can be accessed on our public website. If concerns remain after you have implemented universal strategies our referral form is attached.

We offer the following service to meet the needs of children with sensory differences:

Online Sensory Processing Awareness information
Resource Pack with strategies and resources to support sensory differences in everyday activities and situations

What is sensory processing?

This is the ability to feel, understand, tell the difference between and respond appropriately, both physically and emotionally to sensory input from our bodies and the environment. This includes noise, vision, taste, smell, texture and touch.

We receive a great deal of information from our senses. We use this information in many ways to help us understand our body, understand the environment, and successfully interact in the world.

Some children are over responsive or under responsive to sensory inputs, and this can impact on their daily activities. A child can be over responsive in one sensory area and under responsive in another. There are many contributing factors.

Sensory processing difficulties

Some children have sensory processing difficulties. Children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder can have sensory processing difficulties associated with their diagnosis.

Children with sensory processing difficulties can be very sensitive to certain sensations such as noise, smell, texture or touch. They might try to avoid these sensations through certain behaviours. Other children are not very sensitive to certain sensations such as food around their mouth, movement or body position. They might actively seek sensations through behaviours such as chewing non-food items, fidgeting or being generally on the go.

This can really vary form one day to another, and can look very different for different children. When children have difficulty processing sensory information it can make every day activities challenging.

Sensory integration therapy

Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) Integrated Care System recently completed an evidence review for sensory processing to understand effectiveness and impact of interventions to support children with sensory processing needs. The recommendations concluded that we will not currently offer sensory integration therapy in BLMK as it is not an approach that is recommended by the Royal College of Occupational Therapy, or by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (health and social care evidence-based guidance).

Our evidence based approach in BLMK is centred on changing the things around the child, such as the environment, the child’s activities and their personal factors, such as parent/carer knowledge and understanding (through parent/carer and education information and training programmes).

Where can I go for more information?

Bedfordshire Community Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service have created a 25 minute online presentation titled Sensory Processing Awareness to give more details on Sensory Processing Difficulties and what strategies could be used to help children with managing these difficulties.

Parents have found the following ‘top tips’ information useful. This has been produced by Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS Trust. Please also see Bedford Borough Local Offer information on ‘What is Sensory Processing?'

If you think your child has sensory processing difficulties you can talk to any health or education professionals working with your child. They will help you unpick your child’s behaviours, and whether or not they are sensory, or have another cause. For example it can be that children with high levels of anxiety display higher levels of sensory sensitivity, or children who are struggling to communicate can use sensory behaviours to gain attention.

Requests to comment on Independent Occupational Therapy reports as part of the EHCP process, including tribunals:

As a service we are unable to comment on Independent Occupational Therapy reports. We can only provide information on assessments we have carried out and recommendations that we have made.

References for page

Based on information from:

Royal College of Occupational Therapists (2021) RCOT Informed View. Topic: Sensory Integration and sensory-based interventions.
Kielhofner G (2008) A model of human occupation: theory and application.
Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Law M, Cooper B, Strong S, Stewart D, Rigby P, Letts L (1996) The Person- Environment-Occupational Model: a transactive approach to occupational performance. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(1), 9-23.
Rodger S, Ashburner J, Cartmill L, Bourke-Taylor H (2010) Helping children with autism spectrum disorders and their families: are we losing our occupation-centred focus? Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 57(4), 276-280.
Segal R, Beyer C (2006) Integration and application of a home treatment program: a study of parents occupational therapists. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60(5), 500-510.
Fisher AG (2009) Occupational Therapy Intervention Process Model: a model for planning and implementing top-down, client centred, and occupation-based interventions. Fort Collins, CO: Three Star Press.
Townsend E, Polatajko HJ (2007) Enabling occupation II: advancing an occupational therapy vision for health, well-being and justice through occupation. Ottawa, ON: CAOT Publications ACE.

Last reviewed: 11 December, 2024