Feeding: What is Occupational Therapy (OT)? Day Hospital Feeding Program

This resource from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia describes occupational therapy at the Day Hospital Feeding Program.

What is occupational therapy (OT)?

Occupational therapy at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia provides services to children and young adults facing social, emotional and physiological effects of illness and injury, as well as delays in developmental progression. Occupational therapists work with your child to enhance participation in everyday activities, play and sports, and return to home, school or work.

What does OT address within the Day Hospital Feeding Program?

To help support your child's participation in daily mealtimes and feeding, our therapists will work on the following areas:

• Postural control – OT will assess your child's ability to sit at the table and how it affects their ability to participate in mealtimes.

• Fine motor skills – OT will assess your child's self-feeding skills. This can include but is not limited to the ability to:

  • Hold a utensil

  • Open a snack container

  • Drink from a cup

• Sensory processing – OT will assess the sensory processing skills of your child and how it may impact your child's participation in mealtimes. This includes ability to eat a variety of foods.

• OT aims to create child-led, positive food interactions, introduce your child to a variety of foods, and help caregivers understand the many steps that are involved in accepting a new food.

Questions?

Talk to your OT if you have concerns regarding your child's participation in age-appropriate developmental skills. This may include daily routine tasks such as:

• Dressing skills – putting on socks and shoes, orienting front and back of clothing items, putting on pants and shirts, tying shoes

• Clothing fastener completion – buttons, snaps, zippers

• Bathing – washing body parts, tolerating water, hair washing

• Brushing teeth – includes accepting the toothbrush into their mouth

Reviewed on January 1, 2023, by Meghan Burkhardt, MS, OTR/L, BCP