Occupational therapy ADHD interventions

Rachel Cohen, OTR/L

Occupational therapy interventions can help children with ADD/ADHD to participate in and manage daily activities more efficiently. Characteristics of ADD/ADHD include (but are not limited to) difficulty concentrating, putting off tasks, misplacing items, and frequently fidgeting. These characteristics can make it challenging for a child to navigate demands in school, at home, and with friends.

Occupational therapy can improve a child with ADD/ADHD’s ability to tackle these demands through skill development and task/environment modification. The following are examples of areas addressed in OT specific to children with ADD/ADHD:

Skill Development:

• Cognitive skills- Sustained attention, time management, task initiation

• Gross motor skills- core strength and postural control required for sitting, movement activities for focus and coordination

ADHD Social Skills:

Social skills that kids with adhd can work on and how to implement them.

Since these kiddos can either become distracted or, the opposite, dominate interactions, it’s good to first teach them about different communication styles and the importance of watching for these styles.

• Help your child role play verbal and non-verbal communication skills:

  • Body language and what it means: waving, arms folded, heavy sigh, etc.

  • Reading and understanding facial expressions (frown, smile, look surprised, sad, etc.)

• Role play (even if it’s just pretend) showing interest in someone else’s ideas or interests. Role playing as themselves as well as the other person helps them to understand both perspectives.

• If possible, have them start slow in social interactions by playing with just one or two friends at a time at first. It may be overwhelming for them to try and read too many cues at once. Help them get there slowly and within their own time frame. Make it easy on them.

Task/Environment Modification

• Breaking down tasks into more manageable steps

• Creating schedules, lists, reminders

• Minimizing distractions including sounds and visuals