Title: What is Adaptive Development and Why is it Important?
Headings: What is Adaptive Development and Why is it Important?
What is Adaptive Development and Why is it Important?
Content: What may be an appropriate skill at age 3 years will be very different from what might be considered optimal at 6 years of age. So feeding oneself with one’s fingers may be appropriate as a toddler, when at age 5 years, a child should be using a spoon for that same food. Adaptive development studies how a child is moving through the stages of skill development and whether that child needs assistance to stay up with their peers or meet their personal best outcomes. Pediatric Occupational therapists are specifically trained to evaluate a child’s ability to perform age appropriate daily activities as one piece of determining a child’s adaptive development level, whether that would be with self help skills or play skills. Assessment includes observation and interaction, parent input, medical history, and the use of standardized tools. Occupational therapists evaluate fine motor precision, which looks at finger and hand movement; visual-motor integration, which examines the ability to integrate visual stimuli with motor control; balance, and coordination as well as the adequacy of sensory integration. These skills are the foundation for life skills, so by identifying strengths and weaknesses, the therapist can determine the most appropriate treatment plan for a given child. A treatment plan is developed based on the evaluation findings.