Children and Young Persons Occupational Therapy (CYPOT)

The CYPOT service works towards enabling children and young people to grow, learn, have fun, socialize and play so that they can develop, thrive and reach their full potential. CYPOT help young people from birth to 18 years of age (19 if they are in Special Education).

In many cases this means helping children, young people and their families adapt to the challenges of everyday life that may be a result of a child’s difficulty or disability.

All children and young people participate in daily activities (or occupations), and these can be considered in three areas: self-care, school and play/work.  An Occupational Therapist will aim to work with the child/young person and their family to help them participate in these activities by maintaining their skills, recovering previously learnt skills and, where possible, to developing new skills.

There are a number of different ways an Occupational Therapist can work with a child/young person in order to develop their skills. This may include providing advice to you and/or their teachers, working individually with your child/young person in a therapy clinic or in a small therapy group.  The exact nature and amount of therapy will depend on your child’s needs.

Other children/young people may need the loan of specialised equipment, or adaptations to their homes or schools to enable their greater independence. Here too an Occupational Therapist will work with the child/young person, their family and school in helping to identify these needs.

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• Further resources

  You can follow us on Pinterest where you can find lots of Occupational Therapy helpful advice to support you child/young person’s.

• Referral

  Occupational Therapy services in the community operate an open referral system using the form available here.

• How long will an occupational therapy appointment last?

  Your appointment will generally last 45 minutes – 1½ hours however this will depend upon the child’s medical status and tolerance to therapeutic input.

  Each occupational therapist will be happy to answer any queries you may have regarding assessment and treatment within their clinical area.