PediatricDigest: Understanding Key Terms of Occupational Therapy

The occupational therapy team has put together a list of commonly used terms in their therapy sessions so families can understand the terms better and help carry these strategies into everyday life.

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Understanding Key Terms of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy can sometimes feel like it comes with its own language, and that can be overwhelming. We put together this list of common OT terms to help make therapy feel a little less confusing and a lot more approachable. Our goal is to help you feel informed, comfortable, and confident as you support your child's growth.

You are an important part of your child's therapy team. When you understand the words and ideas we use in therapy, it becomes easier to carry those strategies into everyday life—at home, at school, and during play. Working together and sharing the same language helps create consistency, which can make a big difference in helping your child build skills and feel successful beyond therapy sessions.

Movement & Body Control

Gross Motor Skills – Exercised when we engage large muscle groups to perform big movements, often in bursting motions (running, jumping, throwing, climbing).

Fine Motor Skills – Involves the coordination of small muscle groups, primarily in the hands and fingers, to achieve fine manipulation tasks (writing, buttoning, cutting).

Bilateral Coordination – Refers to the ability to use both sides of the body together to perform actions at the same time (clapping your hands, jumping with both feet, holding paper while cutting).

Praxis – Praxis can be broken down into several components, including ideation, motor planning, execution, and feedback and adaptation. Praxis is the overall ability to think of an action, plan it, and carry it out. It includes coming up with the idea, figuring out the steps, and using the body to complete the task. Praxis is important for learning new skills and handling unfamiliar activities.

Sensory Processing & Regulation

Sensory Processing (Sensory Integration) – How the brain takes in and responds to information from the senses including touch (tactile), visual, gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), interoception (internal body cues), auditory (hearing), proprioceptive (body position), and vestibular (balance).

Proprioception – Our bodies internal sense of position, movement, and force. It allows us to know where our limbs are without looking, how much strength we need to lift an object or how firmly to press a pencil when writing.

Interoception – The ability to perceive the internal state of our body (hunger, heartbeat, need to use the bathroom).

Vestibular – Provides the brain with information about head position, motion, and spatial awareness and is crucial for maintaining balance, coordination, and stability during physical activities.

Hypersensitivity – Over-reactive to stimuli in our environment. An individual might feel compelled to touch every item they see, or they might listen closely to identify specific noises.

Hyposensitivity – Under-reactive to stimuli in our environment. People may have trouble distinguishing sensations like hunger and illness, or they might display under-reactions to pain.

Visual & Visual-Motor Skills

Visual Motor Skills – Using vision to guide movement (writing, drawing, cutting, catching).

Visual Perception – Making sense of what the eyes see.

Daily Living & Independence

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) – Self-care tasks like dressing, eating, bathing, and brushing teeth.

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) – More complex daily tasks that help a child function at home and in the community, such as helping with chores, organizing school materials, following routines, or simple meal preparation.